Soulless

Chapter One

-Make a Wish or Two or Three or Nine-

Meiou High was considered to be the preeminent school, the most prestigious of its kind. Many young brilliant minds vied for admittance. The competition within the school was extreme; rank meant everything to the students. Studying and homework were just as vital as breathing, if not more so. All of the stress made the students prone to illness but none dared to miss class. And if they were dedicated to the point of attending even while sick, skipping was unheard of. "Truancy" wasn't even in most of their vocabularies. School was the most important thing in their studious opinions.

This in mind, it was odd that two Meiou students were currently meandering through the woods of a nearby park during school hours. The young truants were discussing, of all things, the uses of poetry. Hoshi, the more reluctant of the two, was attempting to dissuade her friend, Sanyu, from writing a love poem that would, in her opinion, backfire. Sanyu, on the other hand, remained steadfast in his conviction. He would win over the heart of Sanae, the gorgeous girl who had stolen his own.

"Why can't you settle with writing a letter?" Hoshi asked, borderline exasperated. She couldn't even believe that she actually allowed her friend to convince her to skip class. She just wanted to go back.

"Because that's exactly it!" Sanyu was as fed-up as his friend. Their "discussion" had gone on for twenty minutes and it got tiring after the first two. "It's 'settling.' I don't want to settle when it comes to the affections of Sanae."

Hoshi quickly fired back, "Sanae doesn't even know your name!"

"She will after she reads this poem that fully expresses my fondness!"

Throwing her head back and unleashing a frustrated sigh, Hoshi said, "You haven't even written anything yet!"

"Because you aren't helping me!"

"And," she raged on. "She's only going to know your name as 'that creepy guy who wrote me a creepy poem.' She's not going to be flattered."

"Hoshi, please," Sanyu begged, his tone switching from irritation to pleading. "Just at least help me write it. I'll think about the actual 'giving it to her' part over the weekend."

"No, you're not going to think about it," Hoshi stopped walking, turning to Sanyu and adopting the same serious tone he was using. "But I'll help you anyways."

Sanyu grinned, overjoyed that he had finally won-over his stubborn friend.

"Only because," Hoshi quickly added. "I don't want Sanae to file a restraining order."

"I love how overflowing your faith is."

The two found a weatherworn stone bench and brushed off the leaves and dirt to sit down. Hoshi glanced at the blank notepad in Sanyu's hands with little confidence. However, Sanyu's wide smile showed how overjoyed he was. Hoshi was only slightly annoyed by his overwhelming confidence.

Sanyu turned to Hoshi and asked, grinning, "So, how should we start?"

"Well, you should jot down a quick list of what you think about Sanae and what you admire about her. And then we can go from there."

"This is going to be so much fun, Hoshi!"

Half an hour later, and both were about ready to strangle the other.

Hoshi laid, stretched out across the bench while Sanyu had taken to the ground, leaning against it. The list he had compiled during the thirty minutes was embarrassingly short and Hoshi couldn't drag out anything more even if she wanted to.

"All you have is that she's pretty." Hoshi was rubbing her temples, eyes closed.

"Because she is!"

"And what makes her pretty?"

Sanyu sighed, fully exasperated. "I don't know. Everything!"

"You don't know?" Hoshi raised her head to look at him and make sure he wasn't joking. He wasn't. "You don't know why the girl you 'love' is 'pretty?'"

"She just is!"

"Well, that's good. This will be the shortest love poem in history! 'Sanae, you're pretty. Date me?'"

Sanyu glared down at the pad of paper on his lap, imagining Hoshi's face printed on the lines. "This is useless. I don't even know why I tried."

"Because just like all of the other guys at school, Sanae has entranced you. And why wouldn't she? She's beautiful."

"I don't want to be like the other guys!"

"Then do something that none of them have."

"And what's that?"

"Talk to her."

Sanyu paused, staring up at Hoshi blankly. "Talk to her? Do you know how unbelievably lame that is?"

"Exactly! She'll be so impressed that you've chosen something understated instead of wooing her with dramatics. Everyone has done the poem, everyone has done the letter, the flowers, the candy, the stuffed animals. But no one has talked to her."

Lowering his eyes, Sanyu took a moment to think about it. He looked up again and said, "You know, I think you're right. Talking probably is the best way to grab her attention."

Hoshi smiled. "Keep it simple, stupid," she teased.

"All right. I will!" Jumping to his feet, Sanyu pumped his fist in the air. He was now completely determined, his optimism renewed. "I'll scrap this pathetic attempt at poetry and just talk to her!"

"Atta boy," Hoshi encouraged.

"But first," Sanyu paused dramatically, leaning in towards Hoshi. "We have to sneak back into school."

She sighed, "Something tells me that will be trickier than the sneaking out."

"Oh please," Sanyu waved off her concern. "This will be cake."

He reached for Hoshi's arm and hoisted her off the slab of stone. She wasn't expecting such an active "helping hand" and she stumbled forwards, almost falling into Sanyu except he managed to still her in time. Sanyu gripped her shoulders firmly and smiled. Hoshi looked up into his jovial eyes and her heart nearly stopped.

"Thank you so much for everything, Hoshi. I appreciate it more than anything. Even when I'm a jerk, you still stand by me and offer help. You're the best friend I could ever even dream of asking for."

Something in Sanyu's admittance quickened Hoshi's breathing before he pulled her into a tight hug and then it all but disappeared. Moments passed and Hoshi reveled each one. She could stand in the middle of the woods, wrapped in Sanyu's arms, forever. Unfortunately, Sanyu was dreaming about another girl to stand in the middle of the woods, wrapped in his arms. The sad revelation caused Hoshi to hug him tighter.

"Whoa, look at that!"

Hoshi found herself being pushed away with Sanyu looking up at the sky. She followed his gaze and saw what had captured his attention. It was a shooting star, streaking across the clear sky.

Sanyu smiled and laughed, "Quick, make a wish Hoshi."

She watched as he closed his eyes tightly. His face scrunched up in concentration. Hoshi knew what he was wishing for. She opted out and only continued to look up. A gasp escaped when she saw another fly by.

"Sanyu, look!"

"Wow! Another one?"

When three more followed, Hoshi started getting a bad feeling.

"Is there supposed to be a meteor shower today?" Sanyu asked.

"Not that I've heard," Hoshi whispered in answer.

Sanyu laughed. "So many wishes and so few stars."

Another three rushed by.

The bad feeling worsened.

And then there was a second where everything stilled. All of the sounds of the woods that had previously kept Hoshi's ears in use had now vanished. Hoshi gulped down the dread growing in her gut.

"And one more! How many is that Hoshi?"

She watched the final orb fall from the sky.

"Nine."

Hoshi knew that something malevolent was about to reveal itself.

A/N: This is more of a continuation of the prologue I suppose. The next chapter WILL have more of the YuYu gang and the plot will rear its little crazy head. Oh yeeeeeeaaaaah.

:)