ALRIGHTY! NEXT CHAPTER~!
This one is going to be where we introduce more of the characters, and the plot will begin to thicken here a little more, but I don't think you'll figure this shit out until the 4th or 5th chapter.
To the only person who is reading this, my sister, Katie (WUV YOU!)
Enjoy~!


Chapter Two
Still Alive

"You have changed. I have changed."

When the "school day" came around to an end, I decided to head back to my room to unpack my things. Along the way I met up with Kasumi again and we chatted our way to the dorms.

"So are you liking it here enough?" Kasumi asked, a sweet smile on her face as usual.

"It's been okay," I replied, it hasn't been life threatening or anything here, so I assume that's good. "there's people of...all types here, right?"

She made a small giggle, "Well, this is a very up and coming school, many martial art kids are dying to get in here, then again, this is a place for delinquents as well."

"Tell me about it."

"Well, of course you met one of our biggest delinquents just this afternoon, Zack Hammer."

"Right, that kid."

We made another turn to the right, next to the entrance of the boy's dorm, Kasumi wasn't allowed in the dorm, so we just stood outside and continued our conversation. "Zack just transferred here right before Leifang did, and in just a couple of weeks, he went from a D-1 to a C-3! Now that he is a junior, he's planning on being a boxer."

A boxer huh...that would explain his moves, boxers do a awful lot of punches and kicks, and their very lively and always moving their feet. I could totally picture him being a boxer. He practically dresses like one as well!

"Well, what about you? How long have you been here?" I asked.

"I've been here since my freshman year, this is also my junior year, and finally a B-1!"

"Good for you," I replied, "What class is Hayate in?"

The smile and gleam on her face had vanish, all of the gleam and happiness drained out of her eyes. Something must be troubling her.

"Hayate...he's a S-1."

"Holy crap," I replied, "that's good, isn't it?"

She didn't look at me anymore, her eyes lost in space and her expression upsetting. "Yeah, I suppose so."

I didn't believe her, she must have been sad or something that her brother was that high of a rank. "Are you...okay?" I asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

I still didn't believe her, but it was not like I could beat the answer out of her. So I stepped back. "Okay then."

"Well, I gotta get going. Bye-bye!"

She ran off to the right and waved before continuing to run.

"Bye!" I called, waving back as well, Kasumi was such a nice girl. But I had a bad vibe from her, strange I know. But it was like she was hiding something.

Must be my imagination.

~*~

Kasumi ran as fast as she could, the years she had spent on harsh training had paid off, really well.

Talking to Eliot reminded her that she had to speak with Hayate. She had to get him to change his mind. No matter what.

"Nii-san!"

She finally found him, she catches her breath, focused her mind, and called for him again. "Hayate!"

Hayate stopped but didn't turned to see his sister, he knew what she was here for, but she was too late. She could never change his decision, no one could. No one.

"Kasumi, whatever it is that you're going to say, I-"

"Please!"

Hayate cleared his mind, if only Kasumi understood, if he didn't do this, not only would they be in trouble, but their whole family.

"Nii-san, let's just forget about DOATEC, and let's just finish our learning and return to the village-"

"And then what Kasumi?! Let DOATEC destroy out village?!" Hayate didn't want to make such an outburst, it always made Kasumi cry when he yelled. But he had made a deal with DOATEC, with Donovan, that he would sacrifice himself for his sister. So that Kasumi would be safe, and that thing would never be free.

"Nii-san..." Kasumi held her tears, afraid and confused that Hayate was going to be a mercenary for DOATEC. Two years ago Kasumi's father had made an agreement with them that they would leave the Ninja alone! "...don't."

"I must, Kasumi." and like the wind, Hayate was gone from Kasumi's eyes, which were beginning to water.

~*~

When I got to my dorm room, my roommate sill wasn't there, I was expecting to him but nope, no weirdo in here. So I began to unpack, sorting out my clothes and other valuables of mine. I started to get a headache, but it wasn't too painful, my mother always did say that I was one that was prone to headaches and migraines. Ever since I was in the 6th grade, I've had headaches. But then again, I did have a fight today, and it wasn't a pretty one, though it was short.

"Wu-tai!"

Someone came bursting through the door, a tall, very muscled man, with short brown hair that totally defied gravity and stuck straight up in the air. He also looked Chinese oriented by the judging of his clothes. And also I noticed that he must be one crazy mother f!##%.

"Uh...a hello would be nice?" I murmured, I don't think he knew I was there until three seconds I said that and gawked at me. Like I had a third head or something, I don't right?

"HUH? I have a roommate?" he said, no...I'm a burglar that's here to take your wallet. "That's awesome! The name's Jann Lee!" he then wiped his hand on his pants and held it out.

"Eliot McGuire." I replied, shaking his hand.

After that little introduction-and after fixing of the door- Jann Lee and I talked as I put away my things. I learned a lot about him, that he was from Hong Kong, that he was a senior, same as Hayate, a S-2, even his favorite color! For the third guy I have met in this school, he was the nicest than the other two. I mean, Zack seemed a little narcissistic, and Hayate was such a jerk.

"So you actually saved Hayate's butt from Zack?" Jann Lee gawked, while I was telling him about what happened this afternoon.

"Well, I guess you could put it that way," I replied, finally resting on my bed after putting away so many things. "but I kinda got my butt whooped too."

"That doesn't matter! For a beginner to stand up to a B class kid is something, you'll do great in tomorrow's morning spar."

"Spar?" I asked, this school gets so complicated sometimes.

"Every morning the Simulator randomly picks two people to spar, then the two people go into the simulator, and they battle it out. It's kinda a tradition for us."

Now that he mentions it, I think I remember the Headmistress telling me about that in the letter she gave me, her very...simple...letter. "Oh, okay."

"So I bet you can go up there, and knock some sense into some of the pricks in this school!" he exclaimed, punching the air as a gesture of me kicking ass.

"Yeah, and I know the first person I'm wanna fight."

"Who man?" he asked.

"Hayate."

Jann Lee gave me two looks, a "HUH?" look and a "YOU OUTTA YOUR MIND?" look. "Hayate? Hayate Rin?! Dude, you gotta be kidding!"

"No," I replied, resting my head on the soft blue pillow the school provided. "After I saved his ass, he didn't even thank me, let alone be nice."

"Ah, don't let that get to ya," Jann Lee said, getting restless on his bed and getting up, stretching his muscles and messing around. "he's like that to everyone. But you don't wanna mess with him. He's tough."

"Whatever." he may be a S-1, but that's just a title, that's not worth shit in a match. Or at least that's what I thought.

Besides, who wouldn't want to wipe that smirk off his face?

Next Morning

My head was still aching when I woke up at 6 a.m. by a knock at the door, strangely enough it was Hayate, who was wondering if I wanted to go to breakfast with him and Kasumi.

"Sure," I mumbled, seeing Jann's body moving around in his sheets, he was probably getting up as well. "let me just get dressed."

"I'll be waiting out here." he said, closing the door behind him, in like super slow-mo. He was probably tired too.

"Was that Hayate?" Jann asked, getting up from his bed more like springing.

"Yeah," I replied, turning on the lights and heading to my dresser for clothes, "I'm going to breakfast with him and Kasumi."

"Oh," he replied, popping his neck and other joints and going to his dresser, "is Ayane and Ryu going with you too?"

"Who and who?" I asked.

"Nevermind." he replied, continuing through his routine.

After I got dressed, I said goodbye to Jann Lee- who was waiting for someone else to go to for breakfast- and I met up with Hayate.

"Ready to go?" he asked, stopping his leaning on the wall.

"Yeah." I murmered, just now starting to wake up, the bright hallway lights really can brighten someone up.

Hayate looked at me with his eyes, probably thinking of a insult about my clothes. A red hoody and jeans are so un-ninja-ey, he would probably say. But surprisingly, he didn't. "Thank you for helping me out yesterday with the whole Zack problem yesterday."

"Huh?" I asked, where did that come from? Who paided him to say that? "Did Kasumi ask you to thank me or what?"

"Just be thankful you got a thank you." he said, crossing his arms, "Because right now, I don't think I like you."

Ooo, like that was going to hurt me. The big jerk. "Really? Same here."

"Nii-san! Eliot-kun!"

Kasumi was coming down the hallway, her hand waving at us and her face full of life. I wish I could be that happy in the mornings, I maybe would if Jack-ass over here wasn't such an asshole.

"Hi Kasumi!" I said, being as cheery as I could, at six in the morning. "How are you?"

"Great Eliot-kun," she smiled, she then turned to Hayate. "Nii-san, did you thank him?"

"Yes, I did." he replied.

"Did he?" she asked me, obviously checking. She really shouldn't of asked me that. Becuase I was feeling bad this morning.

"Well...sure he did!" I said, jumping up six feet in the air just to get his head under my arm, then I had to pull him down to give him a noogie. "We're best friends now!"

"C-cut that out!" he cried, "Shuushi! Teiryuu! Sutoppu!"

I finally stopped after he liked said what I believed to be "stop" in Japanese several times. Kasumi thought it was funny, I did too, Hayate...nope. Finally though, we all went down to supper, when I met up with Kokoro.

"Hey! New kid! How's it going?" she called, waving her hand and coming rapidly closer to us, Leifang was with her as well, with her...what I thought was her girlfriends' hand around her shoulder. When Leifang said that she had a girlfriend, I was thinking a really butchy kind of girl, but really, she wasn't that butchy. She had a strong, German build, brown bark hair, sky blue eyes, and a denim jacket over a tanktop and denim jeans. She just looked like a regular high school student, not a lesbian.

"Hey, uh, Kokoro," I replied, she and Leifang both smile at me with joy, while the other girl just gave me a "hi." "you guys going to breakfast?"

"Yeppers!" Leifang said, then nudging Kokoro, ready to make fun of her. "We're just waiting for Jann Lee, Kokoro's little lover~!"

"Oh, you!" Kokoro replied, pushing back, judging how hard that was and Leifang's step back -she probably would've fallen back if her girlfriend wasn't holding her- Kokoro didn't take that kindly. "You know that he doesn't think of me like that! Besides, I think of him like a brother."

"Yeah, but isn't he strong? And big?" Leifang giggled, nudging Kokoro more. "If I wasn't gay, I'd do him."

"Leifang..." the girl holding her said, looking like she was going to kill either her or Jann Lee for her comment.

"Oh, I said 'if I wasn't gay'. sheesh Hitomi." she then kissed the German a peck on the cheek. "I love you."

"Hey! Hey! No PDA~!" Kokoro screamed, clapping her hands and being as loud as she could to attract attention...even though it was an empty hallway.

"So anyway..." I said, breaking up the little chatter circle. "I'm guessing you're Hitomi, Leifang's girl...friend?" I stopped talking midway because the woman gave me a deathly glare at me, like I was going to die by her kicking my ass.

"So...? What if I am?" she replied.

"N-nothing, I'm...just asking...-"

"Yeah, jealous?"

Boy, this girl was a ballbuster. "N-no! I'm-"

"You're gay?"

"NO!"

I really shouldn't of yelled that, because suddenly the empty, bare, desolate hallway became automatically full and bountiful and people were staring at me. Even a creepy teacher stared at me and barked "No yelling!"

"Come on, Eliot." Kasumi said, gently pushing me through the crowd, "let's get out of here and get breakfast."

I looked back at Hitomi, she shrugged her shoulder and turned her back to me. That's it, forget Hayate, I want to kick her ass first.

"Nice job." Hayate said sarcastically. Okay, I want to kick both of their asses.

After Breakfast

Breakfast ended sooner than I expected, and quickly everyone was on their way to the Simulator, ready for morning spar. The Headmistress was there, as well as another man in a striped tux and other teachers.

"Welcome rugrats." Christie began her "opening speech." "I'm glad I can begin your guy's day by all of you getting your butt whooped. But before I do, I would like to introduce our new Headmaster, Victor Donovan."

The man stood next to her and gave a grand smile. There were a few claps and cheers, a sarcastic one let out a whistle. But that didn't stop Mr. Donovan from giving his beginning speech.

"Thank you one and all for letting me be a part of this fine establishment. I promise you that this year, whether it be your first, or your last, that this will be a year to remember, and also know that the rest of my term here will be nothing but success."

More kids clapped, another whistle was emitted again. I'm starting to think it is Jann Lee.

"To start our morning spar is..." Christie to a large screen behind them where two students names appeared. "Kasumi Rin and Kokoro Mikiti!"

I looked over at Kasumi, who was actually talking to Kokoro at the time, and they both smiled at each other and began walking up to the Simulator.

When they walked up the steps and up to the large cylinders in front of them, I wondered how the hell this Simulator thing worked, and how effected was it. They put on these helmets and gloves and boots on and stepped into the cylinders, then a large flat screen TV came down from the ceiling and turned on. In large letters were the words "LOADING..."

"What's going on?" I said aloud.

"They're going to spar, baka." Hayate replied, though that wasn't the nicest thing he could have said at me, at least he said something.

"I knew that," I said, this must be payback for me giving him a noogie, I thought it was hysterical, but it's his opinion. "I mean what's with the TV?"

He looked at me with great curiosity, he must not meet a lot of new students. But then he looked away from me, startling me how fast he broke our eye contact. "The TV is so we can watch the fight."

"Oh," I replied, looking up to the TV which went black, and Kasumi and Kokoro were appearing on the screen. "I-I thought so..."

"...baka."

~*~

Kokoro took a deep breath as she entered the Simulator, she had done this several times this year, and this became a ritual to her. She wasn't expecting to win, she didn't care about winning or losing. Kasumi was one of her first friends when she entered this Academy this past year, and they are both like sisters, so the competitiveness between them were little to none.

"Ready? Kokoro-chan?"

She nodded her head at her friend, getting into stance, and clearing her mind. "Ready, Kasumi-sempai."

Kasumi took the first step, her hand a solid target at Kokoro's stomach, but Kokoro's hand moved in to her side and pulled Kasumi closer and elbowed her back, pushing her to the ground. But Kasumi got up quickly, moving to the behind Kokoro and hitting her in the back of the neck.

Kokoro fell to the ground, her neck hurting from the blow, but she got up as fast as she could and faced Kasumi.

Hayate watched their fight, his eyes with such great intensity stared into the screen. He always enjoyed in watching people fight, learning their techniques, learning from their mistakes, and just having the joy of his blood boil from the site of it. But did he look it? Why, not at all, in fact, he looked like he didn't care in the least.

"Wow, Kasumi and Kokoro are really good."

He looked over at Eliot, how was it that this boy made Hayate want to say something to him, either complimenting or insulting? To most people, Hayate wouldn't even give them a second look, but with this...this kid...Hayate felt something for this kid. Whatever it may be.

"Don't be so obvious." Hayate replied, staring at him with menacing eyes. Though deep down, they weren't meant to be menacing. "They both have been training hard. That's what makes them good."

~*~

Kasumi and Kokoro finished their spar when Kokoro won after about 4 minutes, after the large screen told us the winner, it went back into the ceiling, and we watched the girls leave the Simulator's chambers.

"Whoo!" Kokoro sighed, getting a good stretch. "Nice job, Kasumi-sempai!"

"You did well too, Kokoro-chan." Kasumi replied, pulling off the equipment. "Nii-san! How'd I do?"

"Great, sister," that's strange, though I don't know much about Japanese dialect, he called her sister instead of some other Japanese name for sister. Or do they have one? I have no clue, so I guess it's none of my business. "You did a fine job."

Kasumi smiled at her brother, I just knew by that smile that she loved her brother very much, they must be like best friends. The girls came to us, and the large screen behind the Simulator emitted another couple who were going to spar. "Next up, Ayane Ryuske, and Leifang Cho!"

Ayane? I think I've heard that name before...do I know her? Or...wait, no, I don't think so...

"Nice job, Kasumi."

I turned to my back to find what I first thought was a violet faerie, she had purple hair and eyes to match. she was in traditional kunochi outfit-or at least I thought she was- and she was staring intently at us. Almost slitting our throats with her deep, killer eyes.

"For a B-1, of course, though your technique was quite sloppy, so I'd give it that it was more like a C-1 performance."

Hayate stepped in front of his sister, confronting the faerie. Her eyes began to linger over to me.

"あなたの横に少年は誰ですか?" she spoke. What...the...hell...?

"彼は誰でもありません。 ただ誰か私の姉妹氷の友となること." Hayate replied, WHY ARE THEY TALKING IN JAPANESE?!

"彼はキュートに見える、あなたは彼が好きであるか?" she snickered, okay, are they making fun of me? I am so going to kick their ass...

"何があなたにそれを考えさせるか?" he said, I looked back at Kasumi, I would ask her what they were talking about, but she seemed to not be paying attention to me.

"ただあなたが Ryu の上にあなたの雑踏から立ち直ったことを希望していました、それで終わりです。" she said Ryu! She said Ryu! Was that someone I've heard about? Or is that more Japanese crap?

"私は決して、我々の親が言うことにもかかわらず、あなたを愛するつもりではありません。" okay, whatever he said must have upset her. I know that much. Her intense eyes were stabbed.

"それで冷たく、あなたはそれほど失礼でなくてもよいです!" she cried, she looked ready to say something else, but another language was spurted out into the open.

"嗨现在Ayane! 时间Spar!" it was Leifang, she was with Hitomi as well, and Leifang looked pissed. Something I think she could never be.

Ayane shrugged Hayate off and walked over towards the Simulator, muttering something else that I didn't hear.


Andddddddddddddddddddddddddd I'm leaving you all at that! Sorry for such abrupt endings, I just don't know how to wrap these kinds if things up. Well, I hope this answered some of you guy's questions, But beware....ELIOT IS NOT GOING TO HOOK UP WITH KASUMI!

There. I just gave you a hint to who he's gonna fall for. If you don't know who it is, then....WAIT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER OF: FLOWER'S FOR A GHOST!!!

P.S. Thank you all for reading this and being so positive about it, I know this isn't Shakespeare, but I'm glad that a lot of people like this.

YAY~!