This is a continuation of Natsuki's first day of her last year. I kinda wanna slow things down a bit in the beginning, so yeah.

Enjoy!

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I swear, that blonde lion must be on steroids or something illegal...damn monster strength and way loud voice...Natsuki growled in her mind as she headed to her class. I thought this place was supposed to have normal people, and that red-eyed girl definitely doesn't fall under the "normal" category.

"There's something odd about that girl," Natsuki mumbled to herself. "But what could that possibly be?" And where the FUCK is room 27-oh. She stopped talking to herself upon coming across the room she was looking for. She looked at the name on the door: Nakomiizu-sensei. "Here we go, then."

With an irritated sigh, Natsuki turned the door knob and opened the door, revealing herself to a full classroom and a startled teacher. She walked into the room to stand before the young, black-haired teacher whom was sitting on his desk, for one reason or another. It was quite the oddity for a school educator to be seated upon a desk, but the blunette honestly didn't care as to why her teacher was doing so. Who cared?

"And who might you be- my missing student, Kuga Natsuki?" He asked, his blue eyes twinkling in annoyance at Natsuki's tardiness.

Natsuki had to stop herself from snarling. "Yes." She answered curtly.

Nakomiizu "Mm-ed" and looked the late teen up and down in disdain. "I see. Is there any appropriate excuse, or have you already been dealt with?"

Emerald eyes narrowed. "I've been enlightened already by the Kaichou. I am simply arriving to class, if that is alright with you?"

It was a clear challenge that Nakomiizu did not take.

He nodded to a seat next to the big glass windows. "You may take your seat behind Tokiha-san, Kuga-san. You haven't missed anything important, by the way. It was just the class rules and regulations." There was a heavy implication of sarcasm in the teacher's voice that Natsuk did her best to ignore.

Natsuki moved towards the one student standing, whom she assumed to be Tokiha-san. The girl was slim and was accentuated by an almost oversized bosom. She had short, orange hair and a pair of purple irises that reminded Natsuki of Haruka. She gave Tokiha-san a nod of recognition before she was out of the girl's view, sat down, and rested her chin in the palm of her hand. Her head was angled so she could look outside and tune out from the rest of the world. Eventually, her eyes closed and she began to dream.

It was dark and everything around Natsuki was hazy and slanted. Objects were distorted, almost unrecognizable, although some were clear as day. Everything seemed oversized. The noises were distant; echoing, yet so very near at the same time. A crash here, a loud 'thunk' there, and scared or angry voices everywhere.

She was lying on her stomach, hiding under something. 'My bed,' she thought. 'I'm hiding under my bed.' It hindered some of her vision, but not enough of it. Three shadowy figures were huddled only meters away, their heads bent. Two pairs of boots blocked her sight of the figures, but she didn't move for a better view. Somehow, Natsuki knew they would move soon enough so she could see. Moments later, they did, and Natsuki wished they hadn't.

One by one, the shadowy figures slumped over after a resounding bang was heard. And then, the only other color among the black and gray was a deep crimson. It stretched across the floor, covering the entirety of it. When blocked by the walls, the red liquid climbed them, and when blocked by the cieling, it spread across it, ruby drops falling. Soon, there was only red and black in the shape of human forms.

Her heart began to pound painfully as the dead shadow-bodies began to rise from the floor. Their movements were jerky and sudden and fast. They moved like ghosts in horror movies, and Natsuki could only watch as they approached her hidden form. Maybe they wouldn't see her...

The bed -her bed- was suddenly thrown away from her. The next thing her mind registered was she was pressed against the wall and the shadows were staring down at her with wide, normal eyes, each a distinct color of green. For a long moment, there was only silence and staring. To her horror, an anguished moaning entered her ears and mutated into horrible caterwauling. She tried to cover her ears, but she was frozen from fear and dread of something she desperately did not want to see.

There was a sudden silence.

The shadows' eyes narrowed and turned yellow and huge, gruesome mouths full of sharp, bloody teeth, rotten limbs and insects opened and lunged at her.

Shrieks like knives stabbing into her eyes cried out:

"YOU LET US DIE!!!"

Natsuki awoke with a start, intaking a sharp breath of air. She looked around, glad no one in the room seemed to have noticed her jolt of awakening and extremely relieved she hadn't screamed as she usually did after waking from a nightmare. That would have been one serious day killer.

I hate that one...Natsuki sighed.

This particular nightmare was one of Natsuki's reoccuring nightmares. She dreamed of it at least twice a week and it never changed. It was the same, yet it never ceased to scare her to no ends. She could shake and shudder for hours if she allowed such a display of weakness out of her. Could she sacrifice her pride to sit and quiver like some frightened child without her mother? Not without losing regard for herself. Truly, it was quite a sad sight for a near-adult to be so afraid and affected by something constant and never-changing.

The bell signaling the end of class rang. As Natsuki stood, collected her things, and exited the classroom, she couldn't help but dwell on the nightmare. It's the same every time. I should be used to it after its reoccurance for nearly four years now. She glared at a few ogling guys, causing them to avert their eyes and hurriedly walk away. I don't know why it's so scary...She paused as a sudden thought occured to her. It's gotta be the mouths. She shuddered. They're just so huge and gross.

The blunette was forced out of her thoughts by a familiar voice calling out to her. She turned her head and caught sight of the Kaichou. What was her name? She wracked her brain. Fumi...Fugi...Fuji...Fujino! Fujino...Fujino Shizuru! Natsuki grinned at her ability to remember the Kaichou's name after not listening to a word she said. I wonder what she wants?

"Ara, hello Kuga-san." Shizuru greeted the girl with a polite smile.

Natsuki nodded. "Hey, Fujino."

Shizuru noted the lack of an honorific and knew she should take offense at not being shown the proper respect by someone she does not know, yet somehow, the way Natsuki had said her last name hinted that the girl was being more respectful than she normally was.

"Did you need something?" Natsuki asked her, an eyebrow raised.

But Shizuru shook her head, explaining, "No, no. I simply wished to inquire about your day so far."

Natsuki blinked. Why do you care? "Oh. It's...been fine, so far, for an hour." She shrugged. Hell, not even an hour...

Shizuru smiled. "That's good to hear."

"Mm."

They stood there awkward and quiet, just staring into each other's eyes, until, "Ara, you have beautiful eyes, Kuga-san."

What? "Um...thanks, I guess." Natsuki muttered, her eyebrows furrowed in a bewildered fashion as she gave Shizuru a weird look. Other than that, the blunette was unaffected by the Kaichou's tease.

Shizuru -though put off from a lack of a reaction- nodded a 'you're welcome'. "Where is your next class?"

Natsuki blinked at the seemingly random question. She thought for a moment. "Calculus, I believe. Why?"

"Ara, then you had better hurry off to class. Your teacher is on the second floor," was Shizuru's explanation.

Emeralds widened. "Crap. You're right. See ya later, then, Fujino." With that, she turned around and began walking, barely hearing Shizuru's goodbye.

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Natsuki leaned against a wall, absently looking at the rowdy, energetic high schoolers rushing off to the same destination: the cafeteria. It was lunch time for the seniors, and their lunch was after all the other grades', at around one thirty p.m. Some would consider this late, but Natsuki thought it was the perfect time. It was the afternoon, which is when lunch should be eaten, or so she thought. The mornings were for breakfast, and the evenings, dinner. In between was snack time.

She wondered if the food here was any good. Since the blunette never ate school food in all of her school years, she had no idea whether or not the food was good. Of course, hearing most of her classmates complain about the quality of it led her to not wanting to actually try any of it. The girl figured there would be no point in doing so, so she had simply brought her own lunch every day, never failing to remember to pack it in her school bat. Too bad today was the exception.

Deftly irritated at herself for forgetting to pack her lunch that morning, Natsuki sighed and pushed off of the wall. Might as well try it. Hell, I may like it. Her face was pulled into a scowl. But I prob'ly won't.

Ten minutes of waiting in line later, Natsuki was seated at a lone, round table, staring critically at her lunch. It consisted of matsutake mushrooms, boiled spinach, fish simmered in soy sauce and rice wine, a light soup, and milk. Lovely...She sighed despairingly and grabbed her chopsticks. Here we go. Immediately after placing a piece of fish in her mouth, Natsuki gagged and discretely spit it back onto her plate. Leh...nasty...She then -tentatively- tried a mushroom and some spinach.

Her face turned green.

Oh dear God, please let the soup be okay. Being the brave little soldier, Natsuki sipped at her soup.

She set the bowl down and sat quietly for a moment. She then proceeded to rip open her milk carton and chug down the milk. Everyone was right! This "food" is horrible. T-T I think I saw my life flash before my eyes.

"Whoa, are you okay, Kuga-san?"

Startled, Natsuki choked on the milk she was drinking. Tears came to her eyes as she coughed, struggling to get the milk out of her lungs.

"OH! I'm so sorry, Kuga-san! I didn't mean to scare you!" Natsuki felt a hand pat her back.

The choking teen managed to say, "Not scared. Startled. Who you?"

"Tokiha Mai. You sit behind me first period." Mai sat down beside her.

After getting her hacking under control, Natsuki cleared her throat and said, "Tokiha? Whaddaya doing over here?" She raised a slim eyebrow.

Mai smiled friendlily. "You were all alone, so I thought I'd, maybe, sit with you." She paused, and then added," That, and you don't seem to like what you're eating." She held up a bento. "I packed an extra, just in case someone didn't have any money or lunch, and you look like that someone."

There was an awkward silence that caused Mai's smile to waver slightly. Right when she was about to give up and leave, Natsuki slowly reached out for the bento and took it. "Thanks. That's kinda nice of you, Tokiha." The blunette even offered a half-smile.

Mai's cheeks colored a bit.

Natsuki opened the bento. She was greeted with a mouth-watering aroma of onigiri, sushi, miso soup, and a carton of juice. She picked up her chopsticks, shot a glance at Mai, and ate some of the onigiri. Immediately after tasting it, her eyes lit up. "Damn, Tokiha, this is delicious! You make it?" She took another bite.

The purple-eyed teen grinned and nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah."

"Y'got some serious talent. I betcha you could be a famous chef one day."

"Thank-you." Mai said. "I plan on becoming a chef once I graduate high school, actually. I'm going to apply for a scholarship to several prestigious culinary arts academies."

Natsuki nodded. "That's cool."

"Yeah...what about you?"

Natsuki turned a quizzical eye on Mai, "Huh?"

"What do you plan on doing after high school?" Mai elaborated, staring expectantly at the blunette.

There was a short silence as Natsuki thought about what she would do after high school. She had never given it any thought before, so she really had no idea what she would do once she graduated from Fuuka Gakuen. In all honesty, Natsuki never had enough time to wonder about her future.

Finally, she said, "I don't know, actually. I...well, I just don't know." She shrugged. "I guess I'll figure something out. It's not like I don't have the time, y'know?" She gave a lazy grin.

Mai smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

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Natsuki sighed as she slumped onto her couch in her small apartment. She sipped at the beer can she had in her hand absently, her mind on nothing in particular. School hadn't been particularly interesting, as all of the teachers were reteaching the school rules and such. Her drive home was nothing special, either.

Having nothing to do, Natsuki decided to watch some television. She flipped through the channels religiously, but there was nothing interesting on. Not wanting to get up, she decided to go to movies on demand and buy a movie. The movie the blunette ended up buying was Gran Torino; she had been meaning to see it for months, now.

"Might as well make some popcorn," she mumbled to herself.

50 minutes later...

"Oh come on! It was just starting to get to the best parts!" Natsuki groaned, her annoyance caused by her phone ringing. Grudgingly, she paused the movie and answered her phone. "What? Yeah, this is her. Why?" She frowned heavily. "But she was ki-" Suddenly, the teen collapsed onto the couch, her jade eyes widened from shock. "I-I see. Yes, I'll be there as soon as possible. Within the hour? Y-Yes, yes I will. Good-bye." The line went dead, and she lowered the phone from her ear, letting it roll out of her hands.

"How is that even possible?"

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So, good slowness so far? I know it's not too long, but hey, it's only the beginning, y'know?

I will love you forever if you R&R this chapter! :P