I leave the hall, my head aching from the Herculean task of taking notes whilst trying not to focus on Mr Akasuna's face. Pressing my face with both hands, I pull an exaggerated expression of mortification. I have to deal with this for at least a year?

Argh!

I head out to the cafeteria, shoving my thoughts away.

"Hey!"

Footsteps pound behind me. I ignore the greeting and continue walking.

"HEEEEEY! What's your name? I forgot to ask you! I sit next to you in Physiology!"

I whirl around, suppressing my irritation. In front of me is Dissection boy, with straggly, spiky cobalt hair.

"Vida Malheur."

He lets out a toothy grin. "My name is Tobi! I was wondering if you could join our group, the Akatsuki!"

A deadpan stare is what he receives. That grin of his wavers.

"Tobi! What did I tell you about recruiting new people, hn?" A blond haired man shouts, walking over to us. He glances at me and grunts, "I'm Deidara. Sorry about this idiot, hn."

"Senpai!" Tobi squeals as Deidara storms over to us. "I think she should join our group!"

"Why should we let her in?"

"Because Sasori bothered to make eye contact with her and she didn't laugh when I asked him a question!"

Deidara's face flickers with a foreign emotion when he hears Mr Akasuna's name. Strange. They must be familiar with him, but I have difficulty believing that the stoic lecturer would associate himself with these kinds of people…

"So, she's in Danna's class?" Deidara gazes at me. He grins and pulls out a flyer from his backpack. "Take this, hn. Konan might be interested in another girl that Danna thinks has skill."

Konan? Akatsuki? What? I hesitate but take the flyer anyway. Mr Akasuna thinks I have skill? My body temperature rises up at the mere thought.

Tobi frowns and cocks his head. "What's wrong? Your face is all red!"

I flinch and look away from their stares. Deidara lets out a bray of laughter.

"Don't even think about it, hn." He sneers. "Danna might be good lookin', but there's no way he'd mess around with students."

Raising an eyebrow, I smile and retort. "You underestimate me."

Not the answer he's expecting. Oh dear, I've done it again. His eyes widen with shock, and just when he's about to regain his composure, Aya's voice bursts into our thoughts.

"Vida! Come here! I need to talk to you now!"

I turn to face her direction. Hurriedly, I say sorry to the duo and rush towards her.

"What's wrong?"

"You know the guy who I nearly fucked in last year's graduation party?" She breathlessly whispers. I nod.

"You don't remember." She hisses. "Black hair and eyes, tall, and an insensitive fuckwit?"

Oh. "I remember now."

She takes a huge breath.

"He knows about your hair."

My mind freezes. "Wh-what?"

"Dye your eyebrows!"

"But nobody looks at my eyebrows!"

"Just do it!" She sighs and checks her watch. "Look, I need to go to my class. I'll text you about this after school. Got it?"

Strange. He flicks through the memories of her. Her application, record, and today's appearance. He frowns as his memory scrolls through the walls of text, and her photo. At least she's eligible for the group. A far better replacement than that idiot, Tobi.

But that shade of blonde. Hah, he'd never seen such an artificial colour in his life before.

He wipes the smirk off his face.

Now, where the hell did that marionette go?

She stands against the wall, music flows through her earphones as she stares off, into the distance.

What is she thinking?

Sai approaches her cautiously, unwilling to let her slip through his fingers like last time. He remembers the last time he smiled at her. A knowing gleam flashed through her eyes once she pierced through his façade. Shivering slightly, he thinks about how to approach her.

If he befriends her, will she be able to teach him more about emotions?

"Hello." He greets.

Her expression is emotionless, not unlike his. He repeats his greeting, louder.

Vida blinks twice and faces him, pulling free her left earphone.

A few seconds of silence pass.

"I heard you knew about my hair," she responds. Puzzled, his mind winds back to his conversation with Aya earlier.

"I thought your hair was beautiful." He says, using honesty for his possibly to-be mentor. "The white highlights in contrast to your blonde hair was a sight to behold."

She scowls, her face flushing at his response. Vida runs her fingers through her hair.

"I-I...My hair is dyed."

Sai remains silent.

"I'm an albino." She reflects, as if her statement is false. Suddenly, she laughs. "I don't know why I'm telling this to you."

He notices her hands are shaking.

"Why are you afraid?"

"I used to get bullied because of my hair, along with other factors."

Silence creeps back into their conversation. Sai is speechless. No book could prepare him for this. She pushes herself off the wall, and whisks herself away into the classroom. Sai follows her.

"Relentless, aren't you?" She grins and pulls out various objects from her duffel bag. "Well, since you know some things about me, why don't you tell me about yourself?"

He knows how to reply to this question.

"My name is Sai. Sai Shimura."

"Anything else?"

He shakes his head.

"I don't believe you." She simply responds. "Well, since you're in this course, what media do you use?"

"Ink."

"Interesting. You know, I took this course because obviously, the stigma surrounding graffiti still hasn't changed for the last five decades. It's a shame, really. The majority of the buildings here are drab as Satan's balls."

The teacher saunters into the classroom and greets them both.

"Why, you two are quite enthusiastic, coming here so early." She giggles.

"Your nose is quite large." Sai comments.

Vida raises an eyebrow, and pounds her fists on the table, laughing at the teacher's horrified expression.