Chapter III

" I want to feel something, to be something...I want to find one thing that was mine and leave this behind..."
"Untitled" by Fuel

"...So I told him that if he was really good and wouldn't bug me for the day, I'd buy him ice cream!" Mina
laughed with Amy and Lita as she finished her story." And he hasn't bugged me at all this morning, he just sat on
his pillow and watched me get ready for school!"
Lita laughed at the thought." Poor Artemis-and you actually got up on time, too!"
" I know!" Mina laughed." Wish Raye was here, she'd crack up!"
" She would," Amy agreed. Fussing with her school skirt, she clutched her books against her chest and wished
for the millionth time school was closer to her home-but she sort of liked the exercise in a way.
" Where's Serena?" Lita suddenly asked.
Mina and Amy paused to look at their tall friend. She stared back down at them with wide, curious green eyes.
" She said she'd come early today so I could help her study for that history test first hour."
Mina snorted." Right. She's probably still catching up on her Zz's, I wouldn't plan any more early morning
study sessions, Lita."
" Mina's right," Amy nodded, looking a little regretful at the crestfallen look on Lita's face." She probably
meant to. You know Serena, Lita..." she shrugged helplessly, once again a little ashamed that Serena couldn't bring
herself to getting up a little earlier, or at least sleeping in earlier, to allow a friend to help her. But then
again, Serena wasn't exactly happy about the news that Darien was going away to medical school in America.
The girl sighed at the thought. It was gonna be a long day.

* * *

" I think I see the school from here!" Riley strained on her tiptoes to see through the trees, jumping slightly
to get a better view. Very aware of the silence next to her, she turned and looked at Bryony, sighing a little inside.
She looked so dejected, walking a little slumped forward, hands clasped behind her, eyes staring straight ahead. Just
to rebel against Riley and the idea of going to school, she left her hair down to blow with the wind and wore regular
flared jeans and a red t-shirt with a heart on it that matched her eyes. Riley took it upon herself to wear a blue
skirt and a sky blue silk t-shirt for the occasion- just because she was old was no excuse not to be fashionable.
Old. It was no secret at all that the two were not human. They didn't hide it because there wasn't much to hide.
Riley never pulled her hair up in public because neither of them could hide their pointy ears, and Bryn could get away
with it because of her bangs. Luckily, their fangs only liked to show up during extreme fits of emotion-anger,
tiredness, and even sadeness. Such are the costs of being descendents of a straight-line of nymphs.
" You don't have to be so grouchy about it," Riley said quietly." It would look odd if we didn't go to school.
I know it's pointless, but we might actually have a better chance at finding other Senshi if we actually socialize and
look."
Bryn bit back a hiss. Everything her partner said was very true and very logical, but she didn't have to admit
it."
Yeah, sure." She didn't have to turn her head to know Riley was smiling. The white-haired sprite rolled her eyes and
looked around a bit, astonished at how stunning those pink heart shaped flowers on the trees were." They're quite
exquisite," she commented, almost to herself, fingering the delicate pink petal that floated in the air near her
face." Earth has such amazing beauty in the oddest places."
Riley paused to notice them, smiling a little." Yeah, they are pretty." She plucked one, twirled it around her
finger." I love the pink color."
Bryony nodded, pink and yellow being her favorite colors. She looked ahead, noticing the school coming closer
over the hill. She pursed her lips. It looked okay.' Oh, jeez, Bryn,' she thought to herself,' you're nervous and you
know it. You just don't want to admit it. I can't believe I'm taking this so seriously! So what if they might not like
me, it's not like we're going to be in the area long enough to care.' Nevertheless, she gnawed on her lower lip
anxiously-
And was plowed to the ground.
" YAH!" She flung her arms wide, trying to catch herself as someone else's hands clutched her shoulders and
pushed her down. She fell on her stomach with an 'Oomphf!', added to the weight of the girl on her back.
Riley gaped at the two, taken by total surprise at the onslaught. The girl on top jumped up immediately after,
streaming out "I'm sorry" over and over again as she helped Bryony up.
" Oh, God, I'm so sorry," she wailed, brushing off Bryn's red shirt and jeans frantically, looking for any dirt.
Much to the girl's utter surprise, she fixed her hair a little and put her cross on right so it lay on her chest, all
the while repeating " I'm so sorry, I didn't hurt you, did I? Are you okay?"
" I'm fine," Bryony replied, with a half smile at the comical situation. The girl smiled in reply ( she's
pretty when she's not frantic, Bryn thought) and bowed in respect, shouting about being late and rushing down the
street before the two could get another word in.
They stared at each other, blue and red eyes wide.
" That was the weirdest thing I've ever seen," Riley broke in.
Bryn blinked, and stared down the sidewalk that the girl had teared down to reach the highschool in time. There
was something about her...' Something about her aura...I can't place it.' Her eyes narrowed as she caught the last
glimpse of the girl's long, trailing pigtails. She shook her head slightly, frowning as she tried to place it.
Faintly, she heard a bell ring.' I hope she made it.'" Yeah, and about the weirdest hair style I've ever seen."
Riley giggled as they walked on." Yeah! Looked like two meatballs on top of her head! Doesn't that tell ya
what kinda day we're gonna have?"

* * *

" I HATE this school!" Bryony punched the locker was assigned." Why are they making us start today?! We just
got our friggin' uniforms! They're crazy! Plus it's second hour, couldn't they have waited 'til tomorrow?!"
Riley grinned and pulled the shirt over the tank top she already wore." You're just nervous about meeting
new people and new...guys," she winked.
" Damn right I am," Bryn grumbled, heading for the bathroom to change.
The blonde chuckled as she followed her to change and get ready for their second hour: World History.



" Hey," Mina sat down swiftly in the seat next to Amy and in front of Lita. Her long blonde hair swung out
and settled at the movement while she grinned at her friends." I heard we're getting new classmates."
Amy's ears pricked up." Oh, really? Foreign exchange students?"
" Not quite, least that's not what Serena told me," Mina replied, checking her makeup in the compact mirror
she had before class started. Satisifed, she snapped it shut and put it away, then turned to Amy, all smiles.
" Apparently, Ser saw a big moving truck pull up in the drive of the house across the street the Kizuna's used to
live in-the old couple?-she heard they're two teenage girls, and they're not on a foreign exchange deal, at least
I don't think so. Anyway, she told me this a few minutes ago on the hall, I really hope we get to meet them!"
" Me, too," Lita agreed, leaning over her desk to poke a pencil on Mina's ear." We've got a test in about
five seconds, I hope you studied!"
" Eek!" Mina screeched, frantically whipping up her history book." Nobody told me it was today!"
Lita rolled her eyes." I mentioned it this morning." Amy giggled as Mina grumbled and moaned about not
studying enough when-
Serena ran in the moment the bell rang.
" Ms. Tuskino!" The sensei strolled up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Serena immediately
stiffened and squeezed her eyes shut." So glad of you to come. Why are you late, and to second hour?"
She sniffed." I was in the bathroom."
Laughter erupted, and the sensei rolled his eyes." Take your seat, Serena." As she did, he walked to the front
of the room, turning to watch the students watch him." As you know, there's a test today-" he raised his eyebrow at
the audible sqeuak of dismay coming from Serena's direction-" about World War II and its affects on everyone around
the globe, so I suggest you all take out your pencils, and-"
Rap rap rap.
Everyone turned toward the door. Frowning, the sensei walked over to the door and opened it ever so slightly.
" Yes?"
" Think it's the new students?" Mina asked breathlessly.
" I don't know," Amy replied, taking out a pencil and lending her extra to a friend behind her.
The sensei came back in the room, smiling-as he brought in the two new students.
" Everyone, I would like you to meet Riley Zmuda and Bryony Akim."
' Hey!' Previous anxieties forgotten, Serena sat up straight in the chair as the two walked in. Her blue eyes
went wide.' Those are the girls I saw earlier today! And that's the one...' she blushed a little.' That I ran in to.'
" Wow, they're pretty!" Mina whispered to Amy and Lita, who nodded back. The one on the left had nearly white-
blonde hair that didn't quite reach her shoulders, and eyes so blue they could have been mistaken for the sky-she
slightly taller than the other one, with a wide smile on her face and mischief in her eyes that told Mina she was
probably an outgoing, nice person-someone Mina could get along with. Her friend had the coolest white-silverish
hair that was really long, with bangs that varied from eye-length to chin-length.' Pretty,' Mina thought. Her eyes
made her smile; wary, nervous ruby-colored eyes that scanned the class with a flicker of new-student-jitters. While
the blonde's tan looked like it came from a lot of sun, her tan looked more natural and a bit darker against the
white of her hair. She clutched her books tighter to her chest-the only jewelry on her was the gold cross and a cute
gold charm bracelet on one of her wrists. Mina chuckled to herself.' She looks like a little schoolgirl in the
playground with no one to talk to or play with.'
She decided they would make great friends.
' Hey, there's the girl who ran in to me!' Bryony thought, focusing on the young girl in the back of the room,
blue eyes wide with recognition with a faint blush on her cheeks-couldn't mistake the pigtails, now could she? And
she couldn't help but notice the other blonde in the classroom, up front, staring at her and Riley. Bryn blushed a
little. She was really gorgeous!' Gee, makes me feel kinda ugly- like Riley does sometimes when she seems to draw
ALL the male attention in the room to herself.'
" Miss Akim?"
" Huh?" She snapped back to reality, and turned to look at the sensei, who smiled at her." Yes, sensei?"
" Would you care to tell the class a little bit about yourself and your friend, here?"
' Oh, no! Please don't make me do this!!' Bryn bit her lip nervously, scanning the room again after looking
into the irritatingly calm smile of Riley that hinted a trace of mockery in it. ' Remind me to kill you later,
Riley.' She took a deep breath, grateful for the few understanding smiles some of the students shot at her.
" Well..." she cleared her throat.' God, Bryn, it's not a test, he's just asking you to tell them why you're
here!!'" I'm Bryony...Um...Riley and I," she gestured toward her friend, speaking in fluent Japanese," are from
America, California to be exact, which is on the West Coast-"' Duh, Bryn, 'course they know that!!'-" and we moved
in today, in the east suburbs of Tokyo..." she cleared her throat again." We've been best friends since we were
ten, and this is a big step for us, so we hope we'll like it here and make new... friends..." She blew out a sigh
of relief when the students clapped.
The sensei nodded his approval." The students are taking a history test right now, but I'll give the two of
you a slightly different one to see where you stand with the class, okay?" They nodded." Riley, why don't you take
a seat behind Keyla there, who's behind Amy in the blue, and Bryony, why don't you sit across from her, behind
Lita, the brunette?"
They nodded. Bryn had never felt more like a circus freak, which she would gladly tell Riley after this was
done. Why were they all staring? And the guys that were staring (all the guys in the class) made her especially
nervous. Hadn't they ever seen a girl with white hair before? Probably not, but...
Riley and Bryn took their seats, the former settling in elegantly and the latter plopping down with relief,
glad the stares weren't on her anymore.
Lita turned in her seat real quick, and gave her a warm smile." You did real good up there!" she winked,
and extended her hand." I couldn't have done better. My name's Lita Kino."
Bryony smiled her first real smile, and shook her hand gladly. Oddly, but the minute their hands touched,
both felt a spark of something.' What was that??' both thought. Bryn shook her head a little.' She's got such an
odd, powerful aura. Like that girl. Could they be...?' Smiling in a little confusion, she answered," Hi, pleased
to meet you, Lita."
' Whoa, this chick's got a shitload of power!' Lita thought in a daze. It made her dizzy-where did a young
girl get as much power as...what felt like an outer senshi?' I'm gonna have to ask Amy to look her up.'" Let me
see your schedule so I know if we have any classes together!"
Bryn nodded, and dug in her pocket for it." I know it's in here somewhere." Lita giggled while she pulled
out receipts, papers, and finally her schedule amongst the pile of junk from her pockets." Here you go." She
spared a glance at Riley, and rolled her eyes at the sight of her best friend turning around to chat with a guy,
as usual, as the quizzes were passed out.
" Cool, we've got math, science and lunch together!"
Bryony smiled back as the sensei placed the tests on their desks and handed her and Riley pencils. It seemed
like she would be making friends, after all.