A little shorter than the last. Sorry I took so long. Major exams this year. I ussually write when I have inspiration but since the exams are near, I use almost all my inspiration on doing art or photography.(the latter is just a hobby since I'm not planning to use much in my prep work)

Hopefully this is fine. quite a lot of dialogue in this chapter. or is it always like that?

Chapter 3-Meeting

The general office had coldness made worse by the fact that she was about to be accessed for something she was framed for.

The six pupils waked into the into the principal's office with much apprehension.

A cold greeting was issued, "good morning ladies and gentlemen, pertaining to what, do you owe me a visit?"

The vice principal walked in to pass a few files to her boss who whispered a thank you. Shizuru stole a glance at the name on the thickest file: Masashi Takeda and guessed it was the files of all the students in the room.

*If she had asked for the files, it would mean she already knows what we have done, then why as-*

Her question was answered the next time the principal opened her mouth, her tone grew more serious, "name it, one by one, why you're here".

Takeda spoke up first, pointing to his friend in reference, "We're here for skipping classes".

"Takeda Masashi, how many times has it been since you entered this school that you've been called here for the same few issues? Your file contains a lot more bad conduct reports than kendo tittles you have earned for the school, what is it that will make you stop such nonsense", the last part was more of a command than question as her eyes were trained on Takeda's.

The black haired boy did not budge, he stared at her with a bored expression, "I promise I will try not to do it again".

Both the conversers knew that he was lying; saying just to get away from a longer talk but the principal decided to let him go for the day, "2 weeks of detention after school. Your little buddy beside you'll get a week, make sure you attend or I'll have to call your families up".

Takeda nodded and asked to be excused along with his friend who seemed to get agitated the minute his family was mentioned.

Shizuru watched as the two boys made their way out in their usual swagger, she bit her lip, knowing the chance she could get away with such a thing was low. *And by the looks of it I'll get punishment worse than the rest if I can't get out of this*

The principal turned to the girls expectantly.

"We started the food fight", Nao offered in a tone that contradicted her expression.

"I do know of the details, at least what the teachers had saw", the higher authority opened two of the files she had and when she reached Natsuki's her gaze turned to the blue-haired girl standing furthest right.

Natsuki inwardly growled, knowing the reason she was being stared at. It wasn't new, all the teachers in her class had seemed to stare at her the same at the beginning.

"Kuga Natsuki, were you the one who played the biggest role in the horrible mess?"

"No", Natsuki deadpanned, deciding to tell the truth since the principal wouldn't believe her anyway.

"Causing the entire year one cohort to break out in a form of chaotic collective behavior, in which food is thrown at others in the manner of projectiles. Resulting in the whole cohort being unable to attend lessons for a day and cause further disobedience in the future", the principal looked at all four girls one by one.

Nao chuckled at the principal's definition and earned a glare.

"Do you know how much of chaos you have caused? What if such a matter is reported to the media? How will a college with an above average performance look?"

The third girl in the queue spoke up, "I-I was the one who tried to throw food at the councillor, S-sorry".

"And why, would you do that?"

Said girl kept silent and Natsuki decided to help speak up, "I threw a fork at Nao and it hit somebody in the crowd, I think she was… just trying to help her friend stand up against me but missed. Me"

The girl whom Natsuki had spoken up for kept silent not wanting to turn down a chance to escape scott-free.

"Bad track record of truancy, bullying, fighting and substance abuse, your results were good enough to land you up in this school, so what are you trying to achieve by encouraging such behaviour, Ms Kuga?"

Natsuki showed her displeasure and looked away. She was already trying to keep herself out of trouble, a promise she had made on her first day of school but her temper had always caused accidents. Her fight with Takeda went unreported; the boy didn't want to let more know about him losing a fight.

Shizuru on the other hand was shocked by the bad record, the first two was expected but the second two was a big change from the girl she had seen back in primary school.

*Looks like there really was a big change. Ara ara, I wonder if I'll still be able to get along with her* The thought made her frown, she never had much of a problem getting along with others but with the clean record look she wanted portray so her testimonials would be good, it would be hard for her to hang out with bad company.

"Look, just punish me okay? I don't eve-"

"No sign of repentance", the principal cut her off and started scribbling on something Shizuru assumed to be draft paper.

Natsuki growled and held back glaring at the adult. Nao simply smirked and shot Natsuki an amused stare.

Shizuru watched the exchange and wondered about the relationship between the girls. She wasn't surprised if they were more than good friends. Natsuki after all, was a pretty attractive girl.

The oldest woman in the room looked down at her watch and turned to Shizuru, "The three of you, I want you to report to the discipline mistress, she will handle the three of you and as for you, I want to know more about the reason for theft. You do know it is a serious offence?"

Nao walked out of the room calmly, followed by the other girl.

Natsuki walked out last, turning back to get a quick look at the chestnut-haired girl. *She really does look like.. it's not like I really care anyway, she's just a friend.*

The attention was shifted to Shizuru as the three left the room.

"The president of both the student council and archery club with a second CCA of tea ceremony", she paused and gave Shizuru an upward glance from behind her reading glasses.

Shizuru kept silent, it was manners to let the authority finish her sentence before she tried to prove her innocence.

"Many other commendations and a good testimonial not to mention, results, what is it that has made you commit theft, stress of some sort? Is there something you need to share?", the older woman leaned over her table to Shizuru.

Shizuru let her eyebrow show her displeasure of the way the principal was talking to her; as though she had learning disabilities, "Mrs Fumi, I did not do it"

"You have the benefit of doubt, you may return to where you class currently is. You do have to understand though, one more of such a case, I will see to it that you get a much heavier punishment, you are dismissed".

"If you do however, know who it is who actually did steal the drinks, inform me and I will see it done", the older woman said in a serious tone.

Shizuru nodded and kept silent, deciding to give the kendo boys a chance. She had been one to do such things back in the junior years of secondary school and had never been caught, it was all for the sake of fun after all.

"Get back to class quickly, they are probably back in class already"

She gave a polite bow before leaving the room feeling a little light. *Ara ara.. I was let off a little too easily wasn't I? Though it makes sense since hse belives it isn't me.*

Either way, her mind was set on one thing as she walked out of the office. Giving Natsuki a good impression if they ever met around school. It could have been her pride at work or some unknown unwillingness, but she didn't want to look like the past four years had made her inferior.

Natsuki stomped into the teacher-less classroom, cursing under her breath, followed by Nao who had walked her back.

Nao rolled her eyes and walked toward Natsuki's table, "that's what you get when you try and save a 'damsel in distress'. I don't see why you should've helped that girl".

The blue haired girl turned around, "Shut up Nao, it was more of your fault then mine"

The redhead shrugged and put her hand in the uniform's chest pocket for her lip balm, "Touché"

Mai whispered from behind Natsuki, "How did it go?"

"Detention. For a week.. lighter than what the black haired guy got for skipping lessons", Nao replied in stead of Natsuki before4 leaving for her own class.

"Reasonable since he's a repeat offender", Mai thought aloud and started to draw random pictures on Natsuki's back with her finger nails, it always helped calmed Natsuki down, like a puppy going limp under its owner's caress.

Sure enough, the blue-haired girl released the tension in her shoulders, "Hey Mai… since you're so well-informed, do you know who the red eyed girl who was accused of stealing is?"

Mai paused to think, "No, but I could ask Tate about it"

"No trouble, I'll just ask her when I see her around"

Mai gave the 'awwww' look and pulled Natsuki in her embrace, "who's that? Why do you want to know bout' her?"

"The antisocial freak's first crush", the redhead said with a smirk.

"I thought you were going off?", Mai jumped in shock when the redhead suddenly cut in.

"I forgot my lip balm", the shortest girl of the clique walked off again.

Natsuki was shot a motherly gaze when Mai turned back, "Back to you".

Natsuki fought back and pushed Mai away, not using much strength, "No she's not". If Nao meant her having a crush at the current time and date, she was wrong though she was right about the girl being her first crush to a certain extent. Yet, in the first place, the girl might not even be the one she was thinking of.

"Class, silence, you should be reflecting on what you have done and not still be talking. There's still three more hours to go before school ends, attention back to me, it's time for a brush up on your English skills, you haven't been getting practice since Secondary school"

All the students got back to their respective seats and a few restless grunts were heard- restless after the event, some realising how overly well behaved they were being in the new school.

"Get your lecture pads out, it's time for an essay"

Shizuru sat in her seat, spending some alone time with doodling on her lecture pad. Chie and Aoi were missing; probably the toilet and so she was alone in the class along with all the other classmates she's had small talks with.

She was feeling particularly self-conscious though she didn't seem it. Most of the students in the class were staring her like she was some kind of extinct animal.

"I never knew she was such a girl, better keep away. I mean, those who get in trouble with Takeda are usually not so nice themselves", a blond haired classmate whispered, causing Shizuru to frown at how she knew it was Takeda that got her into trouble. *I guess this school has it's fair share of gossip, at least it clears my name from stealing*

There were however, a few other comments that made her have to fake a cough quite a few times just so she could cover a smile. Mostly the usual comments on how she looked though some were about how 'badass' she might be. *Ara ara.. I'm not half as rebellious as I am in these rumours. In fact I have excellent conduct. But such rumours will probably make it safer for me around school. Especially when this school seems to be pretty special*

In the past week, Shizuru had noticed that the school culture was different, in ways like the fact that most of the students here had straight 'A's and excelled in different areas yet the school had its fair share of rebellious cliques, a little more rebellious than the usual.

Her mind drifted back to Natsuki, a part of her mind was entirely curious about how the girl was like after the four years. She changed the medium of her doodles to a pencil and slowly traced out the outline of Natsuki the way she remembered it. She stopped halfway after the hair line- the current view she remembered of Natsuki contradicted the one she was used to seeing in the past and she didn't know how to continue.

*The grown up one and the current rebellious one.*

She put down her pencil and closed her eyes, focusing on the emerald etched in her memories.

*Ara, Which… of them would be more attractive in terms of character?*

"Goodmorning my little honey bees, time to get to work!", her brown haired form teacher walked in with a pile of notes, with Chie and Aoi following behind with an equally heavy-looking stack.

"Let's write a composition shall we? I bet all of you haven't done it since you were in Secondary school"

The crimson eyed girl flipped to a new page and got her pen ready; the faster she was done with the composition the more time she could rest. She hadn't been sleeping well the past few nights and fatigue had caught up with her.

"Write about yourself and whatever you think is essential, past present, what you want now. This matter will be kept confidential and will be used only for me to get to know all of you better. Don't be shy, if you think you need help in anything, you could always come to me"

"Isn't orientation week enough? My hand writing sucks now that I haven't been writing for a long time", a red head shouted from the back of the class.

"Darling Nao, I'll be waiting for a longer one from you", the form teacher said with a smile that didn't seem right no matter how Shizuru stared.

She looked back down to her paper. Deciding on a formal tone, she scribbled down in her neat hand writing.

I am Shizuru Fujino from Kyoto, Japan. Age seventeen, currently in tertiary education; junior college. I plan to get a degree in business and HR in order to take over the company started by my great grand-father years ago in Japan. My hobbies include archery and conceptual art though I am in the science stream. I enjoy drinking tea and water.

Lifting her head up, she noticed that most of the class was quiet now, many of them taking it as a time for some self-reflection on career paths and troubles in the past. Shizuru sighed, it wasn't as if she didn't have problems in life but if she were to introduce her problems it would include the fact she was not straight; which was something that she had made obvious but never once, even though she's already had multiple of such relationships- in her entire life said that she was. The main reason was the fact that her family was homophobic, especially when she an only child and being gay would mean her family couldn't carry on their surname. She had sworn to herself that she never would tell her parents about it but something told her the exact opposite.

Deciding to end her composition there and then, she rubbed her temples in exhaustion and irritation at the most recent thought. Since she had started Junior college she did flirt; but not as much. It was the knowing that those in her current college would likely be people she would work with in future that had stopped her. It didn't seem right to let them know of that side of her, it could risk business deals and such. Especially when that would risk her family finding out about her closeted fact since they were most likely to meet.

Her mind wandered off to other things like the newly employed workers her father had placed under her lead when she went to the company on weekends. He had the reasoning that she should have the younger workers with her from the start so she would have her own loyal following when she got older and slowly took over the company.

She raised her hand to excuse herself from class, she needed a breather.

"Quickly", the teacher walked over to check her paper before dismissing her.

She got out of the class and glided to the toilet with fast paced steps. Nearing the vicinity, she smelt something close to illegal in the school environment.

Deciding to ignore the scent, she entered the toilet and made her way to the basin to wash her hands. A few students who were either the same height as her or shorter were sitting on the basin tops, smoking.

Trying to ignore the group she held her breath in fear she'd cough from the smoke; those who smoked tended to take coughing at the smokes a sign of being inexperienced and easy to bully. The last thing she wanted was getting into more trouble when she didn't have anybody to back her up.

"Hey kid", the shortest blew out.

The only one who wasn't smoking in the room had to bite her lip to keep from swearing, she deliberately stammered to show she wasn't up for a challenge, "A-ara ara, are you talking to me?"

"Well yea, my boyfriend wanted to thank you for taking the rap for him", she walked closer with her cigarette.

Shizuru stood still and raised her brow, saying 'it was a pleasure' wasn't exactly the best thing at the moment.

The girl threw her a packet of cigarettes, "I'll give that to you in thanks"

"I don't smoke"

"Try it then", the reply was brief but not hostile, seemed as though the girl was genuinely thankful for Shizuru's scapegoat case.

Shizuru frowned, deciding to take on a stronger front so she wouldn't be forced into anything, "tried it, don't really like it"

The tallest girl laughed, "I knew you weren't that much of a nerd or silent kid, you seemed to be challenging Takeda to a fight the minute he said 'red eyes' or something, no good piece of shit would do that unless they were high. What's your name? Mine's Lumen"

"Fujino Shizuru, it is flattering to know that you payed attention to me during the event", she kept in another 'pleasure to meet you' it would've sounded sarcastic if she did.

"I was just looking out for who Takeda was going to use to protect his kendo juniors. You can keep the cig, we'll get caught if we do anyway", Lumen made an effort to maintain the conversation with a polite hand gesture.

Shizuru smoothened her skirt and leaned against the wall, taking the hand gesture as the fact that she would probably have to stay for a longer while.

"What class are you from?"

"Science stream class 1"

"Wow, I see, not bad, another smartass"

"Oh come on who in this school isn't? Base point of five", Lumen replied with a snort.

"There are those schools with three", the shorter one spoke up.

"What about you three?", Shizuru asked, it would be good to take note of who she was talking to.

"Humanities class 2", the girl replied with a bored tone.

"Your phone?"

Shizuru dried her hands on her skirt(something she hardly did as it would crease the neat folds on her skirt) so she could take over the phone in Lumen's hands to type in her number. Lumen's phone was a touch screen and Shizuru made a soft irritated growl after a few touches on the wrong button.

Lumen smiled in amusement but kept quiet so the girl could finish typing.

"Call me and I'll save it", the crimson eyed girl smiled deciding to not answer to Lumen's amused actions and walked out, not wanting the teacher to suspect her for misbehaving even more after the food fight incident.

Shizuru walked back slowly, not wanting to be back in the classroom. It wasn't a boring place yet, but if she stayed there any longer it would be.

Natsuki scribbled a few words on her paper.

Kuga Natsuki, the same age as everyone else.

The emerald eyed girl glared at the board due to the lack of interest in all that was going on. Her teacher had played a classical piece from her laptop so the students could write in a relaxed mood; which seemed to work since the whole class was quiet. The silence irritated Natsuki the most, She didn't feel like sitting in class and doing nothing, neither did she want to be listening to classical music.

But there was nothing she could do about all that was happening and the thought that she would have to report for detention after school made everything worse than it already was.

A few minutes later Mai sneaked over to her table to share what she had written.

Natsuki spotted quite a few 'Tate's in the work and turned away. *Obviously another lovesick fool* "you're going to be sent to counselling for that".

"I thought they only did that in secondary school and besides, I didn't add I many details. All I said was. Over here", she pointed at a spot in the thousand word long.

"I met a nice guy who had protected me from a few horrible boys", she pointed to the last paragraph, "and I thanked him".

"See, no relationship", the orange haired girl stared at Natsuki's paper which was flipped over, "what did you write?"

Natsuki growled and pulled it away, "nothing".

The two were silent for a while, their eyes following the teacher as she moved into a more comfortable position and continued to sleep.

"Can't you speak more? We speak in a 1:60 word ratio", Mai sighed and tried to snatch the paper from Natsuki's hand, pressing her chest in her face as she leaned in.

Natsuki blushed and pushed her away, "get your stupid chest outa my-"

Mai saw the blush and assumed she wrote something about the girl she had assumed Natsuki had fallen for and whispered so the teacher wouldn't awake from the spot at the teacher's table, "Is it about the girl? I mean you've never had a crush before right? So maybe… you like girls?"

Emeralds glared at Mai's bright eyes, "I don't give a damn about that girl". She kept silent afterwards, not answering the second part of the question.

Her friend of four years seemed unconvinced, putting her paper on the floor so she would have two hands to snatch the paper.

"Get lost, I'm going to the toilet", Natsuki spat and shoved the half empty piece of paper in Mai's face before walking out of the class, not bothering to ask since the related authority was asleep.

The blue haired girl walked out the classroom, deciding to use the toilet in the further block so she could enjoy the walk.

She reached Nao's block and walked past her class without hesitation, not bothering to look at how Nao was doing; knowing that she was probably either filing her nails or looking in the mirror.

She was about to turn back to look into the next class which was equally as quiet as the last when emeralds locked onto crimsons.

Shizuru smirked.

"Oh my fuck-", Natsuki jumped in surprise.

"Ara ara".

I try to use chracters from the anime or manga in my story. Lumen's from Mai-otome, one of the people under Midori.

Again, I hope I did not dissapoint. Thanks for the reviews though ^^

Thanks for reading, you make my writing pleasant.