Ears By: Skittlez and OtakuSailorV

Kyoyume's eyes glittered a little as she pulled her hood lower and pushed through the crowd, silently.

It was her first day at another new school, and she was more nervous than she had ever been. Of all the schools she had ever been in so far, this one had to be the biggest one yet! So many people! Her eyes spun, and she felt like she might hyperventilate.

She finally got to a remotely empty area and sat down. Finally she could breath.

Watching the passing children from underneath the hood, she wondered if she would get any friends this time around. Grimacing, she remembered what had happened the last time she had tried to get friends at a school. Why did everyone always have to ask her about her hats and hoodies? Making a noise of disgust, she dropped her eyes and pondered where to go to next.

The people here looked weird. Some guys had silver hair, she swore she saw a few people with red eyes. But maybe she was imagining things.

Deciding that she was no more weird than they were, she hoisted up her pack, knowing that sulking alone in a corner would only attract unwanted attention. Biting her bottom lip, Kyoyume made her way through the crowd to her first class.

She got in and sat down in the back. A red headed girl walked up and smiled at her. "Hi! I'm Ayame, are you new?"

Kyoyume retreated into her hoodie slightly, keeping her head bent. "Yes." She replied in a shy tone, though she had meant to sound sterner. Cursing her inability to control her emotions in such situations, she bit her tongue in her anger. "I'm Kyoyume."

Ayame smiled. "Well, I'm glad to see a new face. Most of the people here are pretty boring. Don't let them push you around." She told her, sitting down in the desk in front of her, then she scowled. "Kouga is late, as usual." She grumbled to herself.

Kyoyume lifted her head slightly, her eyes shining from deep inside of the dark hoodie. There was an uncertain look in her eyes, but whatever it was that was bothering her, she did not voice it aloud. "It's nice to meet you too." She said politely. "Thank you for the advice."

Ayame shrugged. "Ah, some of them do like to pick fights. If ya need any help, I'm here." She added with a light laugh.

Kyoyume smiled slightly. "Thank you, but I don't plan on invoking anyone's wrath." She tried to reassure the smiling redhead that she had no intention of taking her up on her offer.

"Oh some just do it for fun. Like. . .Naraku, and the Kotsu kids. They're just immature."

Kyoyume let out a short laugh, she knew what the girl was referring to. She had had enough experience with 'immature' kids. They were the ones that always seemed to cause her trouble, and she stiffened slightly at the news that there were more here. Of course, she had expected there to be some here, but to hear the words from this girl made the anxiety grow inside of her at a steadier rate.

"But most of them, are really nice if you can get on their good sides. Of course there will always just be a few bad kids. No big deal though. Oh. . .here comes the teacher." She groaned. "And Kouga still hasn't shown up, the idiot!"

At this Ayame turned about, and Kyoyume lifted her eye further to take in the teacher. Wondering briefly who this 'Kouga' was that seemed to infuriate Ayame so much.

As soon as the teacher sat down three boys burst in. One was tall, with long black hair tied in a ponytail, the other one had a blond Mohawk and the last one had black-on-gray hair. They rushed to the three empty seats surrounding Ayame. She then took the liberty of swatting ponytail-boy over the head.

"You were late again, fool!" She hissed at him as he growled back at her. "Stop your whining, it didn't hurt that much." She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. The other two boys suppressed laughs at their obvious leader, but immediately stopped when he glared at them.

The teacher finally cleared his throat, muttering loudly about incompetent teenagers. "We can hear you, Mr. Toutou-sai."

The teacher looked up and glared at the class in general, trying to find the speaker. Kyoyume was briefly taken aback by the rudeness of the student to this teacher, but brushed it off. She was in a different school, things were run differently here, she shouldn't be surprised by that anymore.

He then started on a long drawn lecture and was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Hm?" He asked, turning slowly toward the door. Frowning, he went and opened it. "Who's there?" He demanded in a withered tone.

"Sorry, Mr. Toutou-sai," the black haired boy replied. "But the teacher told me to tell you, there's a conference for all the teachers free next block and they can't find Renkotsu...again." He replied sighing.

Mr. Toutou-sai made a noise in the back of his throat that showed her disapproved. "I see. Well, thank you, Miroku." He said dismissively, turning his head upward in thought. "Are they sure they have no idea where Renkotsu-sensei is?" He sounded exasperated and Kyoyume wondered if this happened more often than she had first presumed.

Miroku turned around, smiling a little perversely. "They just don't want to look where they think he is, is all sir."

Toutou-sai rubbed one wrinkled hand in his eyes and sighed in exasperation again. "Very well." Then, leaning closer, her gave Miroku a steely glare. "Don't let me hear you repeat anything like that again, young man." He said before turning away as if nothing had been said between them.

Miroku sighed, walking out. "Bye sir." He added as he walked down the hall. As Toutou-sai shut the door the class erupted into a fit of giggles, but Kyoyume just looked confused.

Ayame and the other boys exchanged glances and whispered under their breath at each other. Kyoyume had never been good at lip-reading, but she could hear very well what they were saying, despite their low voices. What she heard both perplexed and astonished her further. This school truly was different from the others!

Ayame turned to her. "Sorry if you don't really get what's going on. It's a bit of a school-wide joke, why Renkotsu skips out on his classes." She told her. "It's really funny if you hear the whole story." She added.

Kyoyume had never heard of a teacher skipping classes and found herself leaning in with curiosity. Almost too late, she caught her hood as it started to slip away from her face. Hoping no one had seen her abrupt motion, she gave Ayame a curious look. "Why?"

"Some kids, mainly his little brother who goes here says he's having an affair with one of the students. No one's quite sure whether its true or not but its fun to think about." She explained.

Kyoyume blinked and pulled back slowly, taking this piece of gossip in slowly. She had heard of such things but never thought she would attend a school where such things happened. . .Still, there was no assurance that the rumor was actually true, was there? She tried to calm herself with that thought, but still, - she was skeptical.

"Weird huh?" Ayame asked. "Who knows. Maybe you'll have the misfortune of running into Renkotsu. He's a major asshole."

Kyoyume grimaced, turning her head slightly to indicate she wanted no such honor. "I'd rather not."

"Exactly. His brother's...weird." She added. Then Toutou-sai restarted his long-drawn lecture of Politics and other old-man things.

Kyoyume gave a short laugh again and sat silently for the rest of the class, listening intently to the old man, not that she could have easily tuned out from him if she had wanted to.

Finally the class ended. The bell rang and Kyoyume made her way to the next class. The teacher asked for her name and told her to take a seat. She did so without much thought.

Glumly, she stared out the window at the rain that was falling. Her chin was in her hand as she watched it with mild interest, her thoughts roaming elsewhere. As a habit, she kept one hand on the edge of her hoodie cap, fingering the edge thoughtfully.

The class slowly filled up and a black haired girl who looked like she had a permanently bored expression on her face occupied the seat beside Kyoyume.

Kyoyume took little notice of her. She decided that if she didn't want trouble, she might as well fade into the background. Though she liked the girl Ayame, she was still apprehensive of making friends still.

The black-haired girl looked over at her and offered her a small bored smile before turning to the brown haired guy that had just occupied the seat in front of her.

She had smiled back briefly, a form of greeting she had been used to giving now.

As the last of the students piled in the teacher started the class full swing. Same old 'blah, blah'.

Making a face, Kyoyume slid down in her seat. Grumbling inwardly, she wondered how she had ever come to think that the first day of school would be fun.

Suddenly two more students burst in. "Mr. Akimori, Mr. Akanatsu..." the elderly woman warned. "Late. As usual."

The two boys smiled awkwardly at her before taking their seats. Kyoyume's eyes followed them the entire time. 'Are students always late in every class?'

She continued on with the 'blah' of her lecture before asking the class questions. Expecting answers. Kyoyume prayed she wasn't called on.

She had barely paid attention during the entire lecture, occupying herself with small, idle thoughts.

The teacher, thankfully didn't have time to call on her before the ringing bell interrupted class.

Thanking her lucky stars, Kyoyume left promptly, only slowing her pace when she was a good piece down the hallway.

The steady rumble of voices died down as people found themselves at their classes. She had lunch this class. She briefly wondered what was FOR lunch.

'Hope it's something edible.' She knew for a fact that lunches prepared at the school were sometimes far from edible and other times as close to actual food as it could get. Making a face, she looked over the menu with slight distaste.

She walked into the cafeteria with her hands stuffed in her pockets and her head low. "Hey!" A familiar voice called.

She froze, briefly frightened that she had been found out, and slowly turned, curiously to find the speaker. Her eyes fell on Ayame, the redhead from before, who was smiling and waving at her expectantly. Unconsciously, she raised her own hand to wave a greeting, though she was still bewildered.

She walked over and smiled brightly. "Hey!"

"Hi." Kyoyume said in a small voice. She felt like an idiot, or rather - a robot. She had barely any idea what was to be said in these situations, and felt utterly helpless though she knew the girl meant well.

"Wanna come sit with us?" She asked pointing to a table where her friends were sitting.

Kyoyume hesitated for a moment, fiddling with her hands inside of the pouch on her hoodie. Biting her lower lip again, she nodded her agreement. "S-sure."

Ayame led her over to where she and her friends were sitting. Kyoyume sat down nervously, receiving a smile from two of the boys but just a sharp nod from Kouga.

Kyoyume flashed a weak smile from behind her hood, she felt nervous about this and desperately wanted to go sit somewhere by herself instead. But she wanted friends more than she wanted to leave, and, though she was wary, decided that staying was the best option.

Ayame leaned over. "Don't mind Kouga, he's standoff-ish."

Kyoyume considered this and shook her head to show that she didn't mind. She was one to know that everybody was different, and she calmly accepted everyone she met; though she never liked a decent amount of them. "Oh, that's ok." She replied in a small tone back to Ayame in case she did not understand the meaning of the headshake.

Kouga jumped up to cast a steely glare at the man in black that had just walked by, who stopped and glared back. Kyoyume found him much more intimidating than Kouga; his eyes were ice cold. "Kouga sit down!" Ayame urged.

Kyoyume looked from Ayame to Kouga with a blank look, though her eyes held some quizzical question. She was hoping for an explanation, and was slightly afraid to turn toward the black-clothed man for the answer.

The man in black turned on a heel and walked away, the floor sweeping trench coat swishing behind him as Kouga emitted a growl and sat down.

Kyoyume calmed herself. "Who was that?" She asked as she saw the glares that Kouga and his two other friends were sending toward the retreating figure.

"Renkotsu." Ayame said shortly.

Kyoyume nodded, remembering the teacher's name from before. But the man didn't look like a teacher at all! Confused and utterly lost in the strange goings-on at the school, she sufficed a nod for Ayame. "I see."

"He's young. He's smart. He's kinda good-looking. But he's an asshole." Ayame told her. "And he hates everyone."

Kyoyume smirked to herself secretly, inwardly knowing what it was like to hate everyone. Or at least to claim to 'hate' everyone. She wasn't sure if she could ever truly hate every being she ever came across, but she definitely disliked a lot of people. "He has the look." She nodded knowingly.

"The look of what? A psycho killer? Yes he does." Kouga growled. "But I have a trophy from my last fight with him." He added gloatingly.

Kyoyume raised her eyebrows. Fighting a teacher? "A. . .prize. . . ?" She asked slowly, not totally comprehending his words.

"It was outside of school." He added quickly, reaching into his back pocket and pulling something out of his wallet and holding it up. "A ring."

Kyoyume studied it with wide eyes. ". . ." Blinking, she realized that it was an earring of some sort.

Ayame grimaced as Kouga continued. "I scratched him across the chest and my finger got caught on something, so I pulled."

Both girls winced and her smirked wider, enjoying the tale even more when his audience reacted this way. Kyoyume made a face, wrinkling her nose at the ring that Kouga was so proud of. "That's horrible." She said softly.

He shoved it in his back pocket. "Yeah I know."

Kyoyume grimaced at the self-pleased and casual tone with which he spoke. No wonder Ayame smacked him around so much! Someone needed to set him straight every once in a while!

"He deserved it though, right Ayame?" He asked, Ayame nodded in the positive.

The other two boys nodded in agreement as well, saying small things about Renkotsu and the fight in-between vigorous nods. Kyoyume felt strange again and backed away from the subject.

Ayame looked at her. "He thinks Renkotsu deserved it because Renkotsu gave him a good smack to the head. Someone had to though. I just plat along." She whispered.

Kyoyume smiled and nodded, showing that she understood what her new 'friend' was saying. Though she was still troubled inwardly with other thoughts.

"Oh Jesus he's NOT coming this way...." She muttered as Kouga jumped up again and glared at the brown haired man walking by. The man stopped and in a second pinned Kouga to the wall. "Naraku." She snapped loudly.

Kyoyume blinked in shock and almost instantly her heart sped up with fear. Here she was on her first day at a new school and already something bad was happening and to one of her 'friends' no less! Quite alarmed, she couldn't fully register the situation right away and sat frozen in place on her seat.

The brown haired man smirked devilishly. "Kouga I thought I told you your place was on the ground, at my feet when I walked by you." He replied, his deep voice silky. "You never learn." He added tossing the black haired boy down and walking away.

Kyoyume's mouth opened in shock at his force. Kouga only seemed briefly fazed by it though, for he growled deeply at Naraku, his eyes narrowed in aggression.

Naraku turned and looked at Kyoyume for a second before giving her a smile and walking away.

Kyoyume felt her face light up with indignation. Anger flooded her at his impudence, but she knew she could do nothing or she would risk exposing herself. Pushing down her rage, she turned toward Kouga and the others again sharply, frowning to herself.

"Naraku Shirozaru. Truest bastard of the Earth."

"More so than Renkotsu-sensei?" Kyoyume replied with a hidden smirk, though she was worried if Kouga was hurt at all by the ruffian.

Kouga straightened up. "Everyone thinks Naraku's the puppet-master of this fight club that's run at night. It's really Renkotsu. Renkotsu is a level all his own. Naraku's just a manipulative idiot."

Kyoyume's eyes narrowed as he followed his form through the crowds of people, though she soon lost sight of him. "I see." She commented dryly. Turning back to Kouga, she raised her eyebrows. "Are you ok?"

"Happens tons, doesn't hurt a bit!"

She nodded, though her eyes were soft with worry. Her eyes flickered to Ayame who seemed to hold the same worry, though she was masking it quite well. The girl gave Kouga a hardy thump on the back. "Yeah, he's like a runaway train." She said admonishingly.

The lunch bell rang and the students occupying the cafeteria flooded out to their next classes.

Kyoyume waved goodbye to the others before heading off for her next class. Consulting her planner first, she decided which way was the fastest to her next bell.

She got there 5 seconds before the ball rang and, who would be in there but that Naraku character! She found an empty seat and took it. But the teacher began rearranging seats the second the bell rang.

Praying that she would not have to sit anywhere near him, she obediantly got up as the teacher asked of the rest of the class, and stood in front as she assigned the seats.

"Kyoyume...sit by Shirozaru..." the woman trailed off giving her a clear 'sorry I had to' look, gesturing to the seat beside Naraku.

Kyoyume's mind screamed, but she did not hesitate in taking her seat. She wouldn't want him to get the impression she was scared of him, and maybe, just maybe if she ignored him, he would leave her alone. Sitting down, she felt her chest cave in on itself about as far as her breast plate would allow it to in anxiety.

Naraku looked at her. "Hi." He said briefly before returning to what he was drawing.

Kyoyume nodded a silent greeting, pretending she was preoccupied as well as she rummaged through her backpack for pen and paper.

"You're new here?"

Kyoyume's eyes moved sideways to look at him, her head turning slightly to peer at him from both eyes. "Yes, I am." She replied.

"Oh, well just remember I run this place." He muttered. "And tred carefully."

Kyoyume's eyes narrowed in outrage. "Tch. Whatever." She replied gruffly, turning back away from him sharply.

"Well, just being honest, I'm not one to attack women but some of my guys will. Sorry."

Kyoyume's throat tightened. She felt like throttling the guy now, but risking anymore would only make things worse for herself later on. Rolling her eyes, she settled her books down and in the meantime tried to calm herself as well. It wouldn't do for her to fight now, or to risk showing herself. Fuming, she settled back against her chair.

"So your names Kyoyume?" He asked, still focusing on his drawing.

"I am Kyoyume." She responded shortly.

"Naraku. And don't think much of anything you hear about me. Its rarely true." He said, finishing the drawing. "Some people just bother me, so I use their idiocy to my advantage."

"Don't worry. It's not like it'll matter in the long run. I probably won't be here long anyway." Kyoyume shrugged it off.

"Move a lot?"

Kyoyume moved that around in her mind. "You could put it that way." She said after a brief pause. Hoping he let it rest, she felt herself frowning as she tried to figure out an explanation for it all.

"Oh. Uhm...you drive?"

"No."

"Need a ride home today? It's gonna be raining."

Kyoyume fidgeted, frowning deeper. "No, thank you. I'll be fine."

He shrugged. "Okay."

Kyoyume let the conversation drop. She certainly didn't want his attention, but she was hesitant about being overly rude as well.

He doodled a little on the paper he had drawn on and handed it to her with a cocky smirk. "Keep it. You might need me one day." He told her, turning around.

Kyoyume flushed bright red with anger at his words. Taking the paper in her hands, she studied it thoroughly.

His number was drawn on it neatly, with a very well drawn picture of what looked like a small family. He was in it too, a long with some other people she hadn't seen before. She looked at him, but he was still gazing elsewhere.

Gritting her teeth, a muscle in her jaw twitched before she crumbled it and stowed it in her bag roughly. 'How dare he!' She thought indignantly.

The final bell rang, it was time to leave. This felt like a short day for Kyoyume, though it felt a bit longer. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Naraku. "You dropped this." He said, handing her a piece of paper that had, in fact, fallen out of her notebook.

She took it and nodded her agreement. "Thank you." She said before turning to go again.

He disappeared in the crowd but she saw him, looking like he was waiting for someone, outside of the building.

Flushed still from anger toward him, she turned her eyes elsewhere, trying to concentrate on finding her way home instead of worrying about someone like him.

Someone bumped into her; he looked up and gave a short apology before hurrying over to Naraku. They didn't look much a like but the smug smirk the boy was wearing was a dead give away. They were definitely related.

She recognized him immediately as one of the people from Naraku's sketch. Making a face, she turned her eyes away again. She really shouldn't be watching, but she couldn't help but wonder about him

A few other kids crowded around Naraku as he stood up and started away, them following him.

Kyoyume turned her head skyward as a few droplets fell on her hands and face. Licking her lips thoughtfully, she turned toward her own home and headed out, pulling her hood instinctively farther over her head.

She got home and flopped down on her couch, finally pulling the hood off her head.

Sighing, she revealed the two fluffy, large black cat ears that stuck up straight from her head from her electric blue hair. Ruffling her hair and ears with one hand, she tried to straight them out. They felt stiff from being stuck underneath her hood all day.

She turned on the TV and flipped the channels for a few minutes.

On top of her head, her ears twitched in the direction of every sound. Finding that nothing interested her on the TV, she flicked it off with another sigh and got up off of the couch.

She sighed. Wondering, maybe she should call Naraku, just for the hell of it...not that using a phone was ever very easy.

Kyoyume shook her head, her ears flapping on her head wildly as they caught the wind. Making a face, she went into her room at the end of the hallway and flopped down on her bed. Grumbling to herself, she tried to dismiss any more thoughts of the boy from earlier. He had hurt one of her friends, how could she even think about calling him?

Suddenly there was a thumping noise. Sounded like from a car stereo system. "New neighbors I guess!" She heard someone yell.

Kyoyume felt her head throb at the sound of the stereo. Her ears perked toward the sound before shying away from its level of noise. Grimacing, she sat up on her bed, hoping that whoever was yelling would cut it out and leave her alone.

The music cut off abruptly and the people retreated into their house. Thankfully.

Sighing in relief, Kyoyume moved her hands from her ears and flopped back down on the bed.

She briefly wondered who her neighbors were exactly. But she wasn't exactly eager to find out.

Rolling over onto her stomach, she scratched irritably behind one of her large cat ears and sighed again. She knew they would someday have to meet, but she hoped that she wouldn't be alone when that time came. She was nervous around large groups of new people she had never met before, always frightened of her secret coming out.

"I'm bored." She muttered to herself, ruffling her bangs impatiently.

Making a face again, she decided she might as well get on her homework if she had nothing better to do.

She didn't have much homework though. Something for first period, that was about it.

Kyoyume pulled the books and paper forth from her backpack and started on it, gradually getting it done, her mind wandering to other, small things every now and then.

She decided maybe some music would be good. She flipped on her stereo and immediately 'Saturday' by Fall Out Boy started playing. That was good, she liked this song.

It did the charm, and by the time the song had finished, she was done with the homework. Setting the stuff aside, she watched it for a moment, contemplating what to do now.

Maybe she could do with some fresh air. So she got up, pulled her hood back over her ears and walked outside, blinking as the rain fell on her nose.

Closing her eyes briefly, she relished the quiet sound of the rain and it's calming effects on her. Pulling her hood lower over her eyes, she tried to find a nice quiet spot to sit where she wouldn't get too wet from the light sprinkle.

She didn't realize where she was going and she walked into something solid. "Ow!" The girl shrieked.

Kyoyume stumbled backward, half-afraid that the girl had shreiked because her ears were exposed. Startled, she looked up to see that the 'girl' was no girl at all, but a rather feminine man. "I-I'm sorry." She spluttered out.

The boy straightened his pink shirt and dusted himself off. "My fault. Just a bit angry."

Kyoyume flushed with embarrassment. ". . ."

"Not at you, my brother was being a jackass. You must be that new girl at school. Hi, I'm Jakotsu." He introduced.

Kyoyume shook his hand awkwardly. "I-I'm Kyoyume. It's nice to meet you."

"I saw you hanging out with Ayame and them today. In the cafeteria when Kouga was about to pick a fight with my brother. Do you usually freak out that much?"

Kyoyume tensed, flushing with embarrassment again. "Uhm, well, no. . .I've just never had friends that. . .fought before. . ." To tell the truth, she had had very few friends at all, so it was a mere half-truth.

"Oh, yeah it is a bit of a culture shock isn't it? This is a pretty violent town. You get in leagues with the strong ones you stay safer."

"Oh, thanks for the advice, but I don't think I'll be around long." Though she was hoping against hope that she would be able to at least stay around for a year at least this time.

"Hahaha, I kinda wish I could move but I gotta stay. My bro's my only living relative."

"That must be horrible." Kyoyume muttered.

"Nah. He's an asshole yes, but he's a smart guy."

"Well, at least you have someone then." Kyoyume smiled slightly.

Jakotsu shrugged. "I've got plenty. You always have more than you think."

She smiled wider. "That's good."

Jakotsu wrinkled his nose. "Sometimes."

Kyoyume shrugged. "Well, it was nice meeting you." She said vacantly, wondering where she should go with the conversation from here.

"Yeah, maybe I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

Kyoyume smiled and nodded. "Of course."

Jakotsu walked toward the house next to Kyoyume's and walked inside with one parting wave.

Kyoyume waved back and noted that he was one of her new neighbors. Sighing, she pulled her hood lower over her eyes. "Well, another new friend." She mumbled inaudibly.

She decided to go back inside when the rain didn't cease. And she found herself, bored to death and hungry.

Going to her kitchen, Kyoyume browsed over what ther was to eat and finally just picked out a can of soup, opened it, and heated it in the microwave before digging in. Sighing contentment, she watched the rain outside, her ears released from under the hood as she dined on her warm food.

She stopped and looked thoughtful for a second. "This is a weird town." She noted as she ate another spoonful of soup.

She smiled to herself though. "Never been in a place like this before. Should be interesting while I'm here." She mused.

She finished her meal and decided a shower would be good. Really good after a tough first day.

Kyoyume gathered what she needed, her ears twitching at the thought of water on them. Humming a tune, she turned the water on hot and waited for it to heat up.

Once it did she pulled off her clothes and stepped in. It was comfortably hot and her ears twitched, almost contently as the water streamed down on them.

Tossing her head, she dislodged a shower of water droplets from her ears and hair. She washed up slowly, taking her time to relax before she stepped back out, making sure that her ears were completely dry. If they dried still wet, they would smell like wet cat and she definitely didn't need to go to school with that smell lingering on top of her head.

The first time that happened someone asked her if a cat had been sleeping on her head. It wasn't a pleasant smell.

Making a face, she was pretty sure she had gotten every bead of water from her hair around her ears, and her ears themselves. Convinced, she went and got dressed in a different outfit, covering her ears with a cap. "Maybe I'll wear a cap tomorrow. . .I don't think anyone will mind my blue hair. . .I hope. . ."

"Lots of people have weird hair colors." She muttered.

Smiling, she fingered some of her hair thoughtfully. Dyes had never worked on it, and neither had any bleaches. She simply could not get her hair to change color. no more than she could make her ears disappear. Though she was happy that here it would at least be accepted.

"That Jakotsu boy wore lipstick, I don't think they'll mind my blue hair." She convinced herself.

Fingering the brim of her hat, she nodded in affirmation. "Ok, tomorrow I wear a hat then." Studying herself in the mirror, she made sure that there were no lumps were her ears were. Making a face, she noticed that there were small ones, but it would not be noticed unless someone was looking seriously at the top of her head. And what would they do that for unless they suspected her of having ears?

She yawned to herself and finally decided to go to sleep. She simply flopped down on her bed and fell right to sleep.

End Chapter