Anywhere But Here

Chapter 1: Shun

A pair of chocolate brown eyes peered through the holes of a white-painted gazebo, dainty, small fingers gently grasping a part of one of the many wooden beams, before finding that the garden, beautifully decorated with assortments of different, colorful flowers and bushes was isolated. The owner of the eyes and dainty fingers, Alice Gehabich, let out a breath of relief as she slumped onto the white gazebo. She sighed uncomfortably. Who could blame her? Her flame-like orange hair that cascaded down her back was pinned back tightly in a fancy bun, her toes were pinched by a pair of yellow high heels, and her heavy, sleeveless, yellow ballgown with a corset top made it difficult for her to move. Courtesy of her future husband, Klaus Von Hertzon.

It was an arranged marriage. And as much as Alice hated that she had to marry Klaus, she couldn't blame her family. Her mother and father died in a terrible horse and carriage accident when she was five, leaving her grandfather, Dr. Gehabich, to take care of her. Even though her grandfather was a respected scientist, his studies and work did not do a thing to help him, but instead made him in debt to the Von Hertzon family. Unable to pay the rich, noble family, Dr. Gehabich was forced to marry Alice off to their son, Klaus, on his twenty-third birthday. Alice would be eighteen then.

At sixteen, Alice dreaded the two more years in which she would have to marry him.(It wasn't that Klaus was a bad person. Oh no. It was...he never seemed to understand her. He was a gentleman, charming, polite. But at times, he was...boring. And at times, Alice wished that she had other friends, anyone was more interesting. Those ninjas that her grandfather and staff members of Klaus' palace had told her about must be more interesting than him. He was not one up for an adventure. His idea of a fun was playing chess, conversations of science, business, and hosting parties with other business owners or rich nobles. Alice never heard him once talk about anything imaginative or creative, so when he offered her a game of hide-and-seek, Alice jumped on that chance. However, it had been such a long time and still, Klaus could still not find her.

She heard fast swooshing sounds past her. Alice frowned. It couldn't be Klaus. There were leaves all around her. If he were to come looking for her, she should have heard the leaves crackling then. She stood up and peered through the gazebo's holes, her fingers grasping the wooden beam, trying to find him. No one. Frowning, she stepped out of her hiding spot and was about to leave when something up on top of the gazebo caught her eye. Looking heavenward, Alice expected to find Klaus but instead she didn't find the blue haired, green-eyed older male, who was dressed in a black suit and blue tie with matching shoes. Instead, she was greeted by the sight of hazel eyes, black, shoulder length hair, male dressed in a nearly all green outfit, with a mask that covered his nose and lips. A ninja. Alice gasped and her eyes widened out, as the intriguing ninja jumped from the top of the gazebo and landed near her feet. She looked at the male with curiosity as he rose up from his knee and dusted himself off.

"Are you a ninja?" She asked the obvious and mentally chided herself for asking such a question.

The male chuckled, his voice somewhat deep. "Aren't you a noble?"

Alice was stunned. How could she answer that question? "Ah...well...uh-I-um..."

The ninja chuckled once again and the girl felt a small blush creeping up. She stuck out her hand in a handshake. "Alice Gehabich."

He lowered his mask, which revealed the rest of his face. A somewhat sharp jawline, and the smallest of the smallest smirks crossed his lips. He took her hand, and his hand felt calloused against her smooth hand, turned it to the front of her hand, and pressed his lips against it. Alice immediately blushed and he looked into her eyes, chuckling a bit.

"Shun Kazami."

Before any of them could say anything, voices called out. "Your Highness? Your Highness! Please come out, milady! The mansion has been robbed! Please come quick!" Through the holes of the gazebo, a few servants of Klaus' had been roaming the garden, trying to find her.

The male next to her scoffed grimly. "I suppose my time's up." In one swift move, he unclasped a piece of jewelry from around his neck-that she quite frankly didn't know he donned-and threw it at her. The girl caught it with stumbling hands. With a quick salute, and a smirk, he added, "Goodbye, Alice." And with that, in a blink of an eye, the ninja jumped over the tall, brick wall and out of sight.

"Goodbye...Shun.." She murmured all too late, having to blink twice to make sure she wasn't dreaming. But the dark green choker in her hands made a point all on its own.

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"Hmm, let me see here. 100 large pieces of gold and 86 precious jewels. For less then ten minutes in that mansion, you have yet again brought back quite a bit. As of expected of you, Shun." A middle-aged silver-haired male smirked as he handed the prodigal ninja a stash of money.

"Quite easy, if you ask me." The raven-haired shrugged as he accepted the bag along with a piece of paper. "What's this?"

"I've another assignment for you, but not for now. Masquerade will explain it too you. You're excused." The older male adjusted the makeshift crown that was made out of tree braces and some animal's horns as Shun walked out of the room. Outside, he noticed Masquerade, another prodigal ninja, who was leaning on the wall that conjoined the room that Shun was just in to the other rooms.

"Masquerade." The raven-haired nodded.

"Shun." The blonde grinned slightly, rising from his leaning position. "That old man paired us up with some others."

"Not my style, but you know how he is." The other scoffed.

"Shun, where is your choker?" The masked male asked rather coolly, pointing at his fellow ninja's neck, where a dark green choker that was resting on the other's neck was now gone. "I could have sworn you were wearing it this morning."

Shun only smirked as he walked off, leaving an amused blonde behind. "Well, Masquerade, where's your mask?" The raven-haired continued walking, holding up a pair of large silhouettes, all the while not looking back.

Masquerade panicked a bit before breaking into a grin, "Why you, son of a-"

End of Chapter 1.

Note: Whoo! I'm sorry that this is pretty confusing! If you are confused, feel free to PM me for some clarification and whatnot. Also, I apologize for deleting the story, since I seriously needed to rewrite a few things and whatnot. Please review your thoughts, opinions, comments, and so forth.