This chapter took me awhile to do, but i think it turned out ok. I don't have much to say on this one. I don't own TOS, Code Geass, Host Club, Shugo Chara, Pandora Hearts, Hakuouki, KHR, and anything else i forgot. Comment as always.

Chapter 4: School

"So, did anything good happen?" Mozart scooped up a bite of casserole and put it in his mouth. He was staring at his sister's face for a long time as they ate dinner.

"Why do you ask?" Lafayel looked up from her food, the towel around her shoulders slipping a bit. Her wet hair was beginning to dry a bit after her shower. A nice ride, followed by a hot shower and a home-cooked meal prepared by a culinary neighbor: Life was good.

"Well, you're face just looks happy to me. Like something really good happened." He replied.

"I guess you could say that. I found this amazing place up on a ridge. You could see the whole town from there. I didn't know the name of the road, but I'll find out later." Her eyes lit up as she reminisced.

"I could tell from the picture you sent me. But, didn't I tell you not to go out too far? The picture you sent me looked like it had been taken from a place far from the school." Mozart's voice was cheerful as he continued to smile, but she could now sense the iciness creeping in.

Oh crap! I forgot that I was told not to go that far. Oh, now he's mad! I can just tell! Lafayel thought, growing nervous. "Well, I, uh, guess I kinda just kept driving and before I knew it I was on that ridge. The view was nice thought." She told him, hoping that he couldn't sense her wavering voice.

"The view was nice…and you just kept driving…Is that what really happened?" He stood up and cleared off the dishes. Lafayel stared at the spot where her plate had been, afraid to glance anywhere else. She felt caught, like a child who had done something wrong. Like her father, Mozart also had the ability to invoke fear in someone with just a smile and a look; he didn't need to say anything. It was certainly making her feel fearful now.

"Uh yeah, you know how I get."

"Yes, I know you all too well, dear little sister." Now she knew he was really angry. The only time he called her "dear little sister" was when he was about to punish her for doing something wrong.

"Y-Yes, you do, Mo." She stammered and flinched as he came up behind her. I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!

"So then why did you ignore what I said and keep riding?" he asked her and tugged on her hair. Tug. Tug. Tug. Mozart pulled on her hair with each word he spoke.

"I told you-ow I kinda forgot-ow! Please…stop pulling my hair brother!" Lafayel pleaded. "I'm sorry! I really am!"

"What if you had run into that playboy pervert? Then what would you have done?" Mozart hissed as he dried her hair vigorously with the towel.

"Ah stop it!" she cried. "It was fine; nothing happened! I said I was sorry, Mozart!"

"I don't think you are!" he rubbed harder until she thought her hair might fall out.

"Stop it!" Lafayel tried to push Mozart away, but he held strong, refusing to be moved. "I won't do it again! I won't do it again! I give!" Only then did he stop, dropping the towel over her tangled mess of hair.

"I'm bored now…" he sighed and collapsed on the couch.

"You're so mean, brother!" Lafayel huffed as she tried to fix her ruffled hair. "Why'd you have to go and mess up my hair?" There was no response. "Mozart?" She got up and went to check on her brother. He didn't stir even when she poked his cheek; he was asleep. She smiled to herself and grabbed a blanket to through over him. "Sleep well, brother." She muttered and headed for bed, flipping off the lights behind her.

I woke up to an empty house. Mozart was already left to get to the school early, leaving me to follow. After changing into my new school uniform (since I went to a public school we could wear whatever we wanted to, within school regulations), I grabbed the breakfast and lunch that brother had prepared for me and headed for the door. My helmet hanging on the coat hanger made me stop. I really wanted to take my bike, but I didn't want to stand out so much right now. I suddenly spotted a sticky note stuck to my helmet.

Thanks for last night, little sister. If you even think about taking your bike to go to school I'll hunt you down and read to you everything in the high school's ancient history books. Have a good day, Lafayel.

Mozart

Sometimes, my brother scares me. Looks like my mind's made up for me; looks like I'll be walking to school today. I crumple up the note and throw it in the trash before racing out the door.

"Hey! Lafayel-chan! You ready for school?" I know that voice before he even appeared. You could forget such a cheery, almost clingy voice? I turn as I lock the door behind me and see Lloyd and Suzaku coming down the hall. I could see Haruhi walking a little ways behind them. I stared at her curiously. She was dressed in the boy's uniform, not the girl's.

"Yeah…I guess…" I muttered and tried to think of a reason why Haruhi was wearing the boy's uniform? It did look more comfortable than a skirt, but wasn't that against school rules? I just had to ask. "Uh…Haruhi…can you tell me why you're wearing the boy's uniform?"

"Oh this, well it's a long story." She started.

"I'll tell you! Haruhi-chan broke a really expensive vase in the school's elite host club and now she has to dress like a boy and work in the host club!" Lloyd interjected. That boy talked a mile a minute and left us all in silence when he was done.

"Yeah…that's about it…" Haruhi told me with a sigh.

"Our school has a host club?" I was dumbfounded. Just what was this place? Host clubs? Sounds promiscuous if you ask me. And why is Haruhi forced to work there? She looks like a nice enough girl. Just how expensive was that vase?

"Yeah, it's an after school club that the rich guys at our school came up with back in middle school." Suzaku told me. It still didn't make any sense to me. I gave Haruhi a look and she just smiled.

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's not that bad and I've also paid off half of the debt I owe. It's kinda fun actually." Haruhi you are a brave girl, but I'm beginning to worry anyway. How can being forced to work at a host club be fun? Besides that, you're a girl, dressing up as a guy, working in a host club that caters to women…Forget it; I won't even go there.

"Come on guys, we'd better get going or we'll be late." Suzaku said and headed for the stairs.

"Alright!" Lloyd continued to wear that smile that seemed to be super-glued to his face. He suddenly spotted someone leaving a room down the hall and stopped to call out to them. "Hey, Li-san! How's it going? Oh, this it Lafayel! She just moved in; her room is two rooms over from yours!"

I looked up and froze. It was the glutton from the restaurant yesterday. He just nodded, his face still had that slightly depressed look on his face. Li's hooded eyes landed on me briefly before he took the opposite staircase. Who knew that the mysterious glutton would be living in the same apartment building as me?

"That was Li Shengshun. He's a Chinese foreign exchange student, or so the landlady tells us. No one really knows what he does. Oh and he always looks depressed, but he's really a nice guy!" There goes Lloyd again. We haven't even begun walking away from the apartment and he's already talking my ears off.

"So, Lafayel, have you gotten you're schedule yet?" I turn to Suzaku again. At least there was someone else who wasn't overly talkative.

I shook my head. "No, I'm supposed to go to the office to get it. I don't even know what homeroom I'm in."

"Oh well! Once you find out you'll have to come find us at lunch!" Lloyd grinned.

"I would be nice to have another girl in my homeroom." Haruhi mused.

"I take it that you all aren't in the same homeroom?"

"Yeah, Suzaku-kun and Haruhi-chan are in the same homeroom, but I'm not!" I couldn't tell whether he was upset or happy about this. I began to notice flocks of students that came out of the side streets and joined the masses moving along the sidewalk uphill towards the school. I usually was driven to school or took the bus. I never could walk to school because it was too far away. Here, it seems like everyone walks to school. It's kinda nice, but I bet it must be crap in the heat of summer or when it rains.

"That sounds like such a shame." I said, trying to keep my sarcasm on a low.

"I know!" He totally missed it, unaware of the tiny hint that slipped out. Well, I guess that was Lloyd for you.

"So, what's your brother doing?" Suzaku asked. Several cherry blossoms were knocked down from a tree we passed under. They landed in his hair and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hold on, Suzaku, could you bend down for a sec?" There was no way I could just reach up and pluck them out because Suzaku was way too tall. He was about as tall Mozart and made the rest of us look like midgets. And I should know what that feels like; I'm usually the shortest person in my classes.

"Ok." He stopped and bent down until we were at eye level. I brushed the petals out of his hair and he just gave me a curious look. I held up a petal to show him and he just mouthed the word "oh".

"My brother is teaching at the school. He's a world history teacher."

"Oh, so he's the new teacher they were telling us about." Haruhi pointed out as the school came into view. Further off to my left, there was another school that rose above the houses.

"What's that building over there?" I pointed at the building curiously.

"That's Seiyo Elementary." That's an elementary school? It looks like a freakin' castle! What is with the buildings here? Ok, maybe I'm getting a head of myself, but we never had any schools that looked like that.

"Seriously? Is it a private school or something?" That was about all I could say.

"No it's a public school." At that point I just stopped and stared, at a loss for words.

"No way…" I don't know how much or of this I can take.

"Did they not have schools like these where you're from?" they asked me and I just gave them a look.

"No nothing like these…" I was in a small state of shock the rest of the way to school. We merged in with the crowds of students flooding the school grounds. I pulled out the crumpled map that Mozart had given me of the school grounds, trying to fabricate a plan to get to the office. The school looked so large on paper and it was even much bigger that I remembered it being yesterday. With any luck, I was hoping it to make it through today without getting hopelessly lost.

"Well, seeya, Lafayel-chan!" Lloyd said as he Suzaku and Haruhi went down a separate hallway, leaving me alone in a mass of unknown faces. The last I saw of them was their waving hands above the people. The sound of slamming lockers and waves of different mixing voices filled my ears. It sounded just like high school; at least that was something that I was used to.

I almost wanted to say "Wait, don't leave me!" as they vanished, but I held my tongue and focused on following my map.

Lafayel stared at her schedule as she made her way hurriedly to her homeroom through the nearly empty hallways. The majority of her classes were on the second and third floors and her homeroom was located on the second floor in room 209. As far as she knew, Mozart's class was on the second floor as well, but she couldn't remember the number.

"Alright," she muttered as she scanned the room numbers for her classroom, "it should be around here somewhere…" Lafayel was growing nervous but she kept it hidden. It was never easy being the new kid. From what she had gathered, pretty much everyone in the Sunshine District knew each other so that gave her a pretty good idea that they had also grown up together as well as gone to the same schools.

Well, I'm obviously going to stick out like a sore thumb…I just hope that the teacher doesn't make me stand for a self-introduction and answer a lot of questions about myself. I hate it when they make you do that…Do they not know that it's embarrassing enough to stand in front of the entire class and not know anyone? She stopped in front of her homeroom door and sighed, trying to summon the courage to open the door and not go hide somewhere.

"Calm down, you can do this. You've been in front of crowds before. Just think of it as one of those stupid parties that dad throws. Act the way you do around his guests; that's all these people are, unknown guests." Lafayel closed her eyes and breathed in deeply as she slid open the door, stepping boldly into the room.

The teacher, a woman with light silver hair, turned to her and smiled. "Ah, you must be the new student I presume?" As she spoke, the room fell silent and all eyes landed on her. She kept her eyes on the teacher as she handed her the slip the office had given her.

"Yes."

"Well then, I'll start with introductions. Class," she turned her voice to the room of twenty-nine students, "this is Noche Lafayel Vivace."

"I go by Lafayel." Lafayel smiled and turned to the class and bowed without really taking in the students seated in the rows of desks. Most of them were staring at her, but a few were slouched over their desks, asleep. "It's nice to meet all of you."

"I see then, Lafayel. I'm Professor Raine Sage. You can call me Professor Sage or Raine-sensei." Raine told her.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Ah! It must be fate! You're the kitten from the restaurant. It'd recognize that gorgeous face anywhere!" She stiffened at the voice that cut across the silent room. Stiffly, Lafayel's head snapped towards the voice and her eyes widened and color rose into her cheeks. Sitting in the middle row of desks, lounging like a laid-back cat, was Zelos. There was a white headband across this forehead that held his wild hair back off his face.

"You-!" she hissed. The curious eyes snapped from Zelos back to her.

"How have you been, my cute little kitten-chan~?" he purred, flashing her a smile.

What have I done to deserve this? Why, God, why? This isn't happening to me. This isn't happening to me! Why does it have to be him? Why does he have to be in this homeroom? Lafayel's mind was reeling as he school experience was suddenly turning bad right before her eyes. She could feel her normal life slipping away.

"Zelos!" Raine suddenly threw a piece of chalk with deadly precision at his head. It struck its target and made him fly back in surprise. "How many times have I told you to keep your perverted playboy ways to yourself and out of my classroom?" She snapped angrily at him.

"What the heck, sensei? Why'd you have to throw something like that at me? I could have died." he cried, rubbing the red spot that had now formed on his forehead. "You'd better hope that this doesn't ruin my face! Then all the girls in the world will cry." He looked at Lafayel when he said that.

I really want to throw something heavier at him right now. Arrogant jerk. Please, you'll die? Quiet the melodramatics; it was just a little piece of chalk. Lafayel thought, briefly imagining the thought of herself throwing a desk at him.

"Man up, Wilder!" the teacher told him and recomposed herself. "Now shut that big mouth or yours. Or do I have to give you detention again?"

"No, sensei." Zelos huffed, crossing his arms across his chest irritably. He glared at a spot on his desk, his lips pursed in a thin line.

"Alright then, Lafayel-chan, you can take a seat over there behind Ikuto and in front of Alice." She pointed to an empty desk by the window by a girl with glaring eyes and long brown hair and a guy with navy blue hair.

Without a word, Lafayel walked to her seat, keeping her eyes ahead, ignoring the flirtatious smile that playboy Zelos was giving her. She passed the boy named Ikuto and noticed that he was asleep, his hair hanging over his sleeping face. The girl, Alice just appraised her with a haughtily look as Lafayel slipped silently into her seat.

For the first time since she walked into her homeroom, her eyes began to wander around, taking in the new surroundings. She'd meet a classmate's gaze and move on after they either turned away timidly or smile at her. a girl in the far corner grabbed her attention by waving her hand frantically in the air at her. Lafayel recognized the blonde as the clumsy waitress from yesterday. Colette's wide blue eyes were staring excitedly at her as she mouthed the word "Hi" across the room. Lafayel waved faintly at her and her eyes continued their wandering.

Another person who caught her eye was a boy sitting erectly in his seat, arms across chest, waiting for homeroom to end. He had one sapphire blue eye that seemed to be judging the world with disgust. His short black hair was brushed back neatly and he seemed to carry himself with a noble air. To Lafayel, he couldn't have been older than thirteen, yet he was a high schooler apparently. What really grabbed her attention was the black eye patch covering his right eye. Knowing that it was impolite to stare, Lafayel tore her eyes away from the boy and continued to take in the nameless faces around her. She spotted the guy from her apartment complex...Goku...something; she couldn't remember.

Suddenly, the girl behind her kicked her chair, startling her. "You smell foreign." The girl said, with a slight edge in her voice.

"I smell foreign?" she repeated as she turned around. Alice had her feet propped up on her desk as she leaned back in her chair.

"Yeah, didn't ya hear me?" Alice shot, her violet eyes narrowed.

"I did." But why did you have to kick my desk to get my attention?

Alice suddenly sniffed the air curiously, catching a whiff of something. "Something smells good…Smells like meat." Her eyes got a dreamy look in them.

"The only thing that I have that would smell like meat would be this," Lafayel pulled out a bag of beef jerky from her bag and showed it to the girl. Alice's eyes lit up at the sight and a thin cord of drool dribbled out the corner of her mouth.

"Meat!"

"Uh…do you want it?" Lafayel questioned.

"Yes!" Faster than Lafayel could blink, Alice swiped the bag from her hands and tore into it furiously. "Mmmm, this is so good!" Alice was devouring the strips of dried beef. Lafayel withdrew her hand that had been hanging in the air where the bag had once been and turned forward slowly.

That girl must really love meat.

The bell rang, pulling Lafayel out of her thoughts. A shadow suddenly fell over her as she gathered her things together. Standing over her, still wearing that flirty grin, was an eager Zelos. This caused her to jump, clutching her school bag to her chest.

"Hello, darling." He smiled, running his fingers through her hair. "What's your next class?"

"I'm not telling you…" She muttered, pushing his hand away and moving quickly past him.

"Looks like the new girl doesn't want anything to do with you!" A tall guy with short cropped dark red hair laughed as he slapped Zelos on the back. "Looks like old Zelos is losing his touch as one of the top playboys in the school!" The guy's amber eyes were shining brightly as he stared down at Lafayel as he watched her exit the room.

"Perhaps it's time for you to slow down, Zelos-kun. You're not getting any younger, man." Another guy said as he walked past him.

"Shut up, Okita!" Zelos snapped at the guy who left the room, pushing the red-head away. "You too, Harada! I'm not slowing down!"

"Looks like it to me. So much for the man with a hundred women." Okita popped his head back in briefly. "I will say though…She does look quite hot; I can see why you're so interested in her. Although, any girl interests you. Well, seeya." With that, Okita was gone again.

"Good luck with your lady problems." Harada left Zelos standing in the now empty classroom.

"It's not a lady problem!" he hissed and chased after Lafayel. He caught up with her quickly, spotting her red hair from all the other students. "Wait up, Lafayel!" She turned and spotted him and quickened her pace through the hallways, anxious to get away. "Why are you running?" Zelos finally caught up with her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I need to get to class; I don't have time to hang around right now." She responded curtly, not bothering to look at him.

"Aw, don't be like that, sweetheart. It's obviously fate that we ended up in the same homeroom." Zelos said with a look of mock hurt.

"More like bad luck."

"There's no need for you to be like that. Come on, I know you felt something. You felt something right?"

"Like a warm, fuzzy feeling or something like that that fills my soul? I think I do feel something like that…" Lafayel muttered, weaving through the students, checking her schedule and the room numbers.

"Exactly! So you do know what I'm talkin' about!" Zelos exclaimed happily and wrapped his arm around her neck. People turned their heads to stare, giving them a knowing look.

"Nope, it's just my stomach telling me it's hungry." She pushed him off and continued walking. He stood there, his face in shock at being turned down so suddenly and bluntly. Students moved around him the way water does when there's an obstacle in the flow. It a strong enough wind came along, he might have dissolved to dust. As she got further away, he snapped out of his shock and took off after her.

"So where are you headed?" Lafayel sighed, irritated by his persistence.

I'm going to regret this… "I'm going to History. Anything else you want to know?"

His shoulders slumped forward in dejection. "I have math." He whimpered.

"Have fun then…" She suddenly spotted her class and walked hurriedly towards it. Just as she was about to open the door, Zelos put a firm hand on the open, preventing her from entering. "What do you think you're doing?" Her eyes narrowed at him.

"What would you say to having lunch with me; some alone time just you and I during break?" There he went again with his seductive voice and soft tone.

Usually being alone would mean the two of us, smart one. I guess all that hair blacks any knowledge from entering his brain. I'm really starting to get annoyed with this guy. She thought, thinking of all the ways she could get him to leave her alone. "What do you have in mind?"

"Just some quiet time for us to get to know each other." He leaned towards her. "Unless, you have something else in mind?"

"Sure, getting to know each other sounds great!" Lafayel smiled brilliantly. "Where did you want to meet?"

"Behind the gym at lunch." Zelos informed her.

"Alright then. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get to class." Satisfied, Zelos removed his hand from the door and let her pass.

"It' a date then!" Lafayel shut the door behind her, ignoring the stupid fool, and walked up to the teacher. Heh, that's what you think. Sucker~! A sly smile spread across her face and for a split second she looked more like mafia boss then a teenage girl.