A/N: Hahaha, Luna-DiscordI love how you wanted the superhero moment! I couldn't resist doing it myself. X3 Someone's thinking along the same lines as me! I had that scene planned out when the plot-bunny first popped into my head.

SUPERHERO-SAVING-THE-DAMSEL-IN-DISTRESS-EPIC-ENTRANCE FTW!

I just wanted to point out that there seems to be slightly different time-presence with Arthur as the narrator that some of you more literature people may be bothered by. It's because the story isn't being told just from the present, but as someone telling a story. Just a little thing I wanted to add is all.

There's going to be a lot of talking in these chapters…But awkward conversations are funny. X3 And you guys get a little insight on their 'kind'. It'll pick up a bit more in the next chapter.

A week passed since that incident and I never could quite grasp that the five students that sat in the back of my class were all shape-shifters (or aliens, whichever). The next morning from that fateful night, I was unsure if it was all a dream or not. A part of me wanted it to be a dream. But by the little scratches I had received from the fall when Alfred crash-landed, I had to assume that it had not in fact been a dream. And honestly, I'd rather it had not been. It was quite exciting to have such a change in my life. Also I eventually did retrieve my belongings from that alleyway (luckily it was in an alley and in a plastic container. It was clean).

The week after that incident, I was sitting in my backyard on a swing that I had hung up for Peter when we had first moved here. My eyes were closed, absorbing the nighttime sounds when I heard a soft little thump. My eyes opened to reveal the cat from the other night that had been napping on my lap. Its tail swished back and forth and its eyes gleamed happily. I wondered what a cat was doing in my backyard and also how it had found me. The cat walked over and rubbed against my leg and so I picked it up to place on my lap to stroke it. It purred loudly. I loved the nighttime.

From behind the fence of my neighbor's backyard (I myself didn't have a fence) came the other four cats that had traveled with the first cat on the night of the incident. I frowned and looked at them, a sneaking suspicion coming into my thoughts. I grabbed the cat in my lap and lifted it by its armpits to hold it up to eye level. It blinked innocent blue eyes at me. I scowled.

"Alfred." I stated. If it really was the boy, then I was going to be annoyed. It was strange and a little bit creepy to be petting my student.

The cat's tail dropped and its ears went down and if cats could pout, this one definitely did. It was Alfred for sure. I dropped the cat onto the ground where he landed easily and watched amazed as I saw the fur of the body retreat into the skin as the cat grew bigger. Its tail shrunk as well as its ears. Its snout changed into a nose and human ears poked out of the side of its head. Paws were replaced with hands and feet. I looked away swiftly. The transformation had occurred in less than two seconds.

"How'd ya know it was me?" He asked, standing unabashed in his full glory. I would've kept my head turned away, but my manners told me that I needed to at least look in the face of the person I was talking to, so I looked at Alfred's face and refused my eyes to drift any lower towards that torso with taut skin stretching perfectly over pectorals and –fuck, my eyes had drifted. I scrambled to return to look into his face. It was still curious and pouting, unheeded by my staring. Thank god that he was used to being naked.

"I don't know many cats that travel in groups of five such as you and also I'd recognize your eyes anywhere." They had appeared in various places. He had probably been that mouse too. Why had he been in my classroom, though?

Nicole suddenly appeared behind Alfred in her naked form too, but I couldn't see anything as her arms hung over his shoulders and was hidden behind his torso. "Does that mean you're calling Alfred's eyes lovely, Mr. Kirkland?" She questioned. I flushed for two reasons: 1) Pure embarrassment because I couldn't deny that I did indeed find Alfred's eyes lovely and 2) because I imagined –for half a moment- how it must have felt to have Nicole's breasts pressed up against my back.

"N-no! I did not say that at all!" I stuttered.

"You didn't deny it either." Gilbert stated as the rest of Alfred's Gang joined us. I forced my eyes not to drift this time.

"Be quiet, Gilbert! And can you all please put on some clothing?"

"No." I glared at him.

"What will my neighbors think?" I hissed. Surely they'd believe there was some type of pedophilic orgy happening in my backyard!

"Don't worry about it, Mr. K!" Alfred brushed off my worries. "Everyone nearby is totally asleep or not home! Trust us!"

"I insist you put some clothes on!"

"Don't be such a prude."

"I'm surprised you know what that word means, Al." Matthew commented absently, fixing his ruffled hair.

"Don't suddenly turn on me!" Alfred whined, walking over to hit Matthew a little. Matthew smacked him back and the two started getting into a play-slap-fight. Nicole was left completely exposed before my eyes and I closed them hastily.

"If you insist on not wearing clothes, then at least cover your chest, Nicole." I begged.

"Yes, alright." I opened my eyes and saw that she was covering her chest with folded arms. She gave me a look as if asking, "Better?"

I nodded in thanks. At least now I can look at all of them. As long as I didn't let my eyes go lower, then I would not see anything inappropriate. "Is there a reason you are all here?"

Alfred stopped his match. "Oh, right! Hey Mr. K, you wanna hang out with us for a while?"

"It's Mr. Kir- Oh, blast it all! If we're out of school, you can call me Arthur." I gave up trying to correct my name with him.

"Sweet! Artie, then!" Gilbert stood next to Matthew and whispered something to him. The two drifted slightly away from us. We ignored them.

"Arthur." I stressed.

"Do you want to hang with us or not, Artie?" Oh goddamn it all. I'm never going to be called by correct name with this boy, am I?

"What the devil do you mean, 'hang out'? What are you proposing? Don't you have other things to do, like sleep? It's quite late!" Really it was only about nine-thirty or so, but that was still fairly late!

"It's a Friday." Nicole stated with a roll of her eyes, as if that explained it all.

"We're just going to go eat, chat a bit, that shit." Alfred explained with a shrug. I scolded him a little on his language, causing him to pout a little.

"We also thought that you may have more questions now that you have had some time to think." Kiku added. Well, that made a good point. I was extremely curious about this 'alien' life and what they were and such.

"I don't know…" I murmured.

"Come on; it's Friday!" Alfred begged. "Come have some fun!" I sighed. Did I even want to? But the offer was appealing. They were my students, but they were all seniors and thus I was only a few years older than them. I had a right to hang out with them. I don't think anyone would mind it.

"As long as you promise to wear clothes, then I will go." Alfred cheered.

"Deal!"

"Um…Alfred…" We both looked at Kiku. Kiku wasn't looking our way though. His face was red and glancing to the side. How curious. We were about to ask what was wrong when Nicole grinned and said,

"Oh brilliant! Gilbert and Matthew are eating each other's bloody faces!" Alfred turned and I stood to see Gilbert on top of Matthew, lips interlocked and hands roaming each other's bodies. Needless to say it was a disturbing sight. I could tell immediately they weren't having sex, but they were naked and it could easily lead to that.

"Bloody hell, no sex in my backyard!" I shouted at them, not daring to get closer with my burning face. Some sights just couldn't be unseen.

Gilbert and Matthew pulled away from each other and licked their lips. "Well you guys were boring me." Gilbert pouted.

"Sorry, Arthur." Matthew looked away, only appearing a little ashamed. I think he felt more regretful about being caught than the actual act itself.

"Teenagers." I muttered.

"Eat each other's faces later, guys! We're going out!" Alfred told them. "Let's get our clothes and go eat!" Gilbert groaned a little. I suppose that he was the one that disliked being dressed the most. Nonetheless the five ran into the forest. I went back into my house and grabbed a coat and (just in case) a pocket knife. I'm sure that with five shape-shifters nothing would happen to me, but I still I wanted some type of weapon. I also grabbed my wallet and then left to meet them out back. They returned wearing casual clothes, which I was only slightly surprised to see. I was so used to seeing them in their school uniforms.

Alfred was dressed in a simple white shirt (it had a little bit of dirt on it that showed that it had been on the ground) that read 'Who Is Your Hero?' and blue jeans. His jacket was his favourite brown letterman jacket with the big '50' on the back of it. He wore it all of the time, as far as I've seen. Matthew wore a red and white sweat-jacket with a red maple leaf on it and black trousers. Someone was a fan of Canada. Gilbert wore a short-sleeved blood red button-up shirt that was open to reveal a black undershirt and a dark purple neckerchief tied around his neck. He wore tight black ripped skinny-jeans. Nicole wore a short purple plaid skirt and a light blue tank-top. Kiku dressed in a white button-up with dark blue slacks.

They were gorgeous. Maybe they weren't from this world.

Alfred was definitely the leader of the group as he dragged everyone with him to first a McDonald's before everyone else (in exception to Nicole –she had American taste) decided that they wanted to eat some place with nicer food. I suggested a restaurant I knew and led them there. It was one of those nice places that were very open with many tables and with plenty of windows. It was the type of place you came to when one was in college to eat and study at the same time on one's laptop. I love the place.

Alfred's Gang marveled, apparently never having gone into the restaurant before. "I love it!" Nicole immediately said. Admittedly I liked the place much better in the daytime, but it was nice at night as well. We went to order what we wanted (Nicole and Alfred only got pastries because they'd had McDonald's) before going to sit down. The time I spent with them was extremely nice and fun. Not like I would have expected when hanging out with a bunch of my students –and aliens at that. But it wasn't uncomfortable in the least. I seemed to flawlessly blend and become one of the group; chatting easily with them and laughing. Like this it didn't seem that they were any different from regular humans. I felt like I belonged, which is more than I can say for a lot of my life having always been considered a 'freak' because I can see magical creatures and ghosts and such. We were kicked out by ten-thirty as the place closed (that it stayed open so late was nice) and instead took to walking the town. Our party had only shifted to on the go. Nonetheless we were all happy.

Alfred and I fell back a little bit from the others, walking in a content silence as the four chatted about something that had happened with a teacher they all had that didn't include Alfred. They all giggled and Nicole's hand found Kiku's as Matthew and Gilbert got a little closer together. I looked at Alfred and caught a wistful look on his face as he watched them. It surprised me to see such a face, but a moment later it was gone as he caught me looking and grinned.

"What's up?"

"What's the matter?" I asked softly. I had a natural 'mother hen' nature that came from raising my little brother and it was kicking in now as I looked at Alfred.

"Mm…Nothing, really." He shrugged and put his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

"That implies that there is still something bothering you." He shrugged again, trying to blow it off. I looked at the couples in front of us. "I'm curious about something."

"Whazzat?" He slurred slightly. Americans. They bloody mess up the good English language.

I glared at him a little. "'What's that', git." I corrected before returning to softer tones for my next question. "Is there something going on between Gilbert and Matthew? I mean, I know that Kiku and Nicole are dating…"

Alfred looked surprised. "You can't tell? They totally are together!"

"I-I wasn't quite sure with the way Matthew rejects Gilbert's advances in class." I felt embarrassed.

"Nah, that's just because Mattie doesn't like doing those kinds of things in public." I eyed him, reminded of the incident in my yard. He laughed, understanding what I was thinking. "But Gilbert sometimes convinces him."

"…Do you feel left out around them?" I asked softly.

He tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that since the four of them are together…do you have someone yourself? It seems a bit…" I trailed off, not needing to say the last word. I'd rather he'd interpret it his own way.

Alfred developed that wistful look again. "Well, yeah. I'm actually really jealous of them." He gave a soft sigh and smiled in a way that didn't quite reach his eyes. "But you know it's not their fault. I just haven't found that one for me yet, you know?"

How strange. "You make it sound like you're searching for your soul mate." I stated. He was far too young to be thinking of things! He had his whole life ahead of him, after all! Or not, I don't know. Maybe his kind didn't live for very long? The thought saddened me.

Alfred frowned in confusion. "I don't know what that is, but yeah I am looking for a mate."

I was confused now. "'Mate'?"

"You know, a person that you are with the rest of your life!"

I was shocked. "You want to get married so soon?"

"No. Well, maybe. I don't know too much about human culture. Is that what being married is?"

I was once again reminded that Alfred was not of this world. The thought that he didn't know what marriage was startled me. "It's when you become bound to someone and where you can only be with them. You live with them and love them."

"Yeah, that!" He grinned, excited that I understood him. "No wait…" His smile dropped as he tried to remember something. "Do you mate with someone when you get married?" I nearly choked on my own saliva at the question.

"M-mate? As in, sex?" I whispered. Alfred's face scrunched in thought.

"Um…Yo, Kiku!" The group in front of us stopped to look at us.

"Yes?" Kiku asked with a slight tilt of his head.

"Is 'sex' and 'mating' the same thing?" Alfred asked. I was blushing.

Gilbert and Nicole gave us sly looks. I didn't like them. "What were you two talking about?" Nicole asked with a grin.

"Something inappropriate, obviously." Gilbert agreed.

Matthew gave them scolding looks. "Yes, Alfred. Humans 'sex' and our 'mating' are the same thing." Kiku explained. What was he, the resident on humans?

"Well, Artie?" Alfred pushed his earlier question.

I covered my face. "Yes." I answered. "But you don't have to be married to have sex."

Now everybody looked interested. "You don't?" Nicole asked.

"I thought you did…" Matthew agreed. Apparently everyone but Alfred had known what marriage was. I was surprised by the naiveté of these aliens.

"No, you can have sex anytime you want with who you want. Well," I decided to fix my statement so as to not lead them wrong, "actually if should only be with someone you care about deeply, but there are people who do it with anybody willing." They were frozen, staring at me with wide-eyes. I started to become a little nervous. It was like teaching a bunch of children, but were they really this shocked? Had they not had sex with someone before? Usually kids their age at least experimented… "What?" I finally demanded.

"That's…" Matthew started, still shell-shocked.

"That's horrible!" Gilbert blurted out, looking angry.

"I can't believe there are humans who do that…" Kiku murmured, distressed.

"I didn't know humans were like that!" Nicole agreed, looking like her mind had been blown. I didn't know whether or not to be offended.

"Not all humans do that!" I felt the need to defend my kind. Now that I think about it, was I some type of ambassador for my world, or something?

"Do you?" Alfred asked and everyone else quieted to look at me. Suddenly I felt extremely uncomfortable and wished desperately that this topic had never been brought up. I shifted, but they all waited for my answer. They honestly wanted to know.

"W-well, I have had a couple…" I could practically feel every one of my students' respect for me drop. I scrambled to defend myself, angered. "So you all are telling me that you have never had sex, or 'mated', with anybody before?"

None of them answered for a moment before Gilbert said, "I have. Mattie's my mate." Matthew nodded in confirmation. I didn't really need to know that little tidbit of information.

"What the devil does that mean? I know that you're dating!"

"We're not just dating. We're mates." Matthew said again. I became even more confused.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked with furrowed brows.

"They're mates." Alfred said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world and he thought something was wrong with me for not understanding. I glared at him.

"So?" I demanded.

"Wait, he's not getting it." Nicole spoke up. "Humans must not use that term. Arthur," she turned to me and I knew an explanation for my bewilderment was coming and I welcomed it wholeheartedly, "Kiku and I are girlfriend and boyfriend. Matthew and Gilbert are mates. Mates mate with each other. People who date do not."

"I see." I said, understanding the simple explanation easily.

"To put it even more simply," Kiku said, "we do not mate with anybody we do not want to be with forever."

I was once again floored. "You…mate for life?" I whispered. They nodded, glad that I understood them. Was that true? Could such a thing actually exist with sophisticated beings? Before that moment I didn't once believe in such a thing as a 'soul mate' or 'true love' or anything of the such no matter how badly I wanted to (I'm a hopeless romantic; sue me). But here were these aliens telling me that in their culture that if you mated with someone, you would be bound to them for the rest of your life.

"But…what if you decide that such a person is not right for you?" I questioned.

"That, like, never happens." Nicole said.

"How?"

"Well, that's why we have the dating period. It's a trial to see if you want to be mates with a person." Matthew explained. "You can date for as long as you want and during that time you can easily leave to go to someone else, but unless you mate with them then you're still available." Oh my god. They were serious.

"So you and Gilbert…"

"Will be together for the rest of our lives." Gilbert confirmed.

"However," Alfred spoke up, "you can leave your mate. It's not like you'll die or something."

"But it's rejected in our culture and you will most likely never find another willing mate." Kiku said. They all looked saddened by the thought. I felt the heavy atmosphere.

"And…if they have children with another person?"

"Oh, they'll be accepted. They didn't choose what their parents did." I didn't want to believe it. There couldn't be a culture such as that. They were so accepting. They were so…loyal. Naturally I couldn't believe in it. Would you believe such a thing? Well, maybe not on this planet. Humans are too cruel. This world is cruel. I didn't want to say how amazed I was. We kept walking, heading in the direction of my house now. It had become quite late. It was nearing quarter after eleven.

A silence hung around us. I was uncomfortable. But naturally Alfred was the one who broke it. "I actually have a question, Artie."

"Arthur." I corrected instinctively.

"Whatever." I twitched. "You say that you've been with a few people, right?" I flushed and then fear struck through my heart. Did that mean that I was looked down upon in these aliens' standards? The thought made me want to cry at the thought. I didn't know why, but my heart severely ached the thought of these kids thinking less of me. Perhaps it was because they were new friends of mine.

I looked down. "I'm not exactly proud of some of it. I was a wild teenager." Quite the punk, really. "I've grown out of that now."

"What do you mean? You don't want a mate?" Nicole asked.

"O-of course I do! I played as a teenager, but of course I want to find someone to be with for the rest of my life! Most humans do! It's just we don't have the boundaries you lot have when it comes to dating."

"Hey, I was asking a question!" Alfred pouted at being ignored. I rolled my eyes. He was so childish. "I was wondering if you've mated with a couple people, then why don't you have their scent all over you?"

What? "Excuse me?" I asked.

"I was wondering that as well…" Kiku said.

"Yeah." Gilbert eyed me. "You should have their scent lingering on you a little but you only smell like…Arthur."

"That's true." There was a general consensus among the group, nodding to each other.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Apparently, they had better noses than humans. Maybe it was because they could turn into animals. Maybe they had other senses too that were better.

"You smell like a virgin." Alfred put bluntly. I flushed and immediately wanted to deny being a virgin, until I saw the approving smile on Alfred's face and I realized that it was a compliment. I closed my mouth. What a complicated feeling.

When we arrived at the driveway to my house Gilbert suddenly blurted out, "Mattie and I are heading off for the night. See you guys in the morning."

"It was fun. We should hang out again, Arthur." Matthew said. They then stripped of their clothes swiftly –expertly (I guess you need to strip quickly in certain situations) – and transformed into two wolves before grabbing their clothes and running off through my yard towards the forest. We waved them off.

"We'll take our leave as well." Nicole said.

"Please come play with us again, Arthur-san." Kiku bowed.

"Tell us more about humans next time!" Nicole and Kiku stripped as well (I looked away) before copying Gilbert and Matthew, only running off into a different part of the forest. I was left to stand with Alfred. Said boy leaned against my front door and grinned.

"Lucky bastards." He said. There was a hint of bitterness in it.

"Do you all live away from each other?" I asked.

"Hell no. They're my pack. We live together." I ignored his language. I was getting used to it after this trip out.

"Then why did they sound like they were going home?"

"Well, Gilbert and Mattie are going to mate. That much is obvious. They've been given off their mate-scent all evening. It was kind of sickening." I didn't understand what that was, but I could assume. "And Nicole and Kiku are probably going to get all snuggly together somewhere. I'm glad though because now I won't be a third wheel." I pitied him. He must've been so lonely. I opened my mouth to ask him if he wanted to perhaps stay with me for a little while (I could manage another few hours) but he grinned at me and said, "It was so cool hanging out with you tonight, Artie! You're cooler than I thought you were!"

I closed my mouth. "Thanks." I said dryly.

"You're welcome!" I felt a little bit annoyed by this point and tried to get past him. He blocked my way. I scowled.

"Move."

"Aw, you're going in already?"

"Yes, I am!"

"You're such an old man!" I continued to try to get past him and he continued to thwart my plans.

"Wha-I'm only twenty-three, thank you very much!" I cried, offended. He snickered.

"Twenty-three?" I got my hand underneath his arm to grab the doorknob and turn it. Success!

"Yes!" I pushed him and discovered the hard way that my door had been left unlocked (how foolish of me!) and the two of us tumbled in with short cries. I didn't suffer much damage as I landed on something soft and I sat up slightly and blinked. Alfred's blue eyes blinked back from underneath of me. I had fallen on top of him. He was so close that I could feel his breathing on my face and our chests were pressed against each other. Our heartbeats were rapid.

I sat up fully now. "I'm terribly sorry!" I apologized to him, feeling slightly relieved that this had occurred in my house and not in public. No need for rumors.

"Hey, no harm no foul, right?" Alfred sat up too. We were once again face-to-face and chest-to-chest (heartbeat-to-heartbeat). I was now straddling his hips, much to my embarrassment. I should've gotten up, but I hesitated. Alfred's body felt so warm against mine and it was pleasant. Like I had mentioned before, I hadn't been with anyone since Francis. And I dumped Francis over a year ago. This proximity with another (attractive) male stirred up warm feelings that I wanted to savour for a moment longer. I took a quiet but deep intake of breath and tried to keep my thoughts pure.

Alfred broke my moment. "Artie?" He whispered. My eyes snapped open (when had they closed?) and I scrambled off of him, muttering apologies.

"I must be more tired than I had previously thought." I excused myself.

"S'no problem." Alfred murmured and climbed to his feet. He cleared his throat. "Anyway like I said, it was cool hanging with you. We should do it again, but I should get going."

"What are you going to do with yourself?" I hadn't seen him without his friends really at all before.

Alfred shrugged. "Dunno. I guess I'll go take a midnight swim, maybe fly around a bit as a bird, and then go to bed or something." I stared at him. That's right –he could transform.

"Can you change into anything?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Only animals. And I have to study what they look like and everything. It's complicated. But I can't turn into insects or anything."

"Fascinating." And it really was. I walked him to my back door where he stripped of his clothes. I kept my eyes on his face.

"I'll see you around okay, Artie?"

"It's 'Arthur'." I corrected for the nth time (I had lost count after five or so).

He grinned at me. "I know." He said before he morphed. His arms spread and he shrunk in size. From all parts of his body sprouted brown feathers and his hair also changed into white feathers. His feet became clawed and finally he turned into a large bald eagle. His blue eyes sparkled as I gaped before he gripped his clothes in his talons and took off. I watched him depart. How did it feel to have such freedom as to fly whenever he wanted to? I envied him. He flew over the forest and eventually faded into a black dot in the night. What other secrets did this forest hold?

I went inside and locked up before falling asleep in my bed, my body still glowing from the warmth Alfred's body had provided for those few short moments.

A/N: The next chapter might be a little interesting…Actually it will be interesting. Hintity-hint-hint: There's a reason why this is rated M. Expect…stuff.

Anybody else like the conversation? I enjoyed myself.

Review, darlings!