Chapter VII

The car came to a stop in front of his new school, him and his mother exchanged looks. He swallowed, steeling himself; letting out a slow breath. She looked like she wanted to say something but after a moment's hesitation she shook her head.

"Good luck son. I probably won't be back by the time you get done so be safe when you're walking home." Darien nodded, opening the door and stepped out of the car. The crisp air ran cool fingertips across his face as he waved goodbye to his mother. He turned and walked up to one of the gates, taking a moment to look around. The gates were wide enough to let maybe up to six people side by side comfortably and there were two of them. A concrete barrier ran around the length of the school, these looked to be the only entrance, though there might be one in the back for faculty parking. The buildings were tall, stair cases zigzagged down their length, indicating multiple floors.

The sharp clicks of steps on pavement drew his attention down to a man who was making his way over. He wore a dark blue suit with a black tie, white cuffs, his hair was cut short and had the barest amount of scruff around his jaw and chin. His dark hair was swept to the sides of his face, out of his eyes which were hidden behind a pair of half-rimmed rectangular glasses. With a strong jaw line and hawkish nose he looked like one of your typical high school teachers that female students gossiped about. He drew up to a few strides away from Darien and smiled before giving a bow at the waist. At first, Darien drew a blank before remembering the customs and returned the bow. The two men, young and old, straightened before the eldest smiled once again.

"I believe you are Asher-kun?" He asked, which gave Darien a moment's pause. Then he remembered that most people were on a last name basis in the Japanese culture, unless you were friends, related or something more intimate. So the young man simply nodded, not trusting himself to speak just yet. The familiar feeling of nervousness fluttered around his stomach, this was his first interaction with a Japanese person outside of a game or a quick run to the store. His weight shifted from one foot to the other and his jaw tightened. Being out of his element was always so odd and he hated it.

"It's nice to meet you. You may call me Akiyama-sensei, please, follow me to the classroom." The man turned and started walking away, leaving Darien to finally uproot himself and hurry a little to catch up to him. As they walked through the paved pathways he couldn't help but feel small. This high school felt nothing like the ones back home. It was much too large, too grand, he found himself painstakingly memorizing where they walked. Standing out from everyone else at the school would be bad enough, it would be even worse if he got lost. The gears in his head were spinning faster and faster. Okay, stop! He commanded himself, nearly stopping in his tracks. After he took a breath, he kept moving, but it was enough to get his thoughts in order. I can wait to think about all of those things after I pass this test.

After what seemed like forever, they walked into a building near the rear section of the school, down a hall and into a classroom that was more like the ones that he was used to. Simple chairs attached to simple desks with a larger desk at the front with a large board behind it. Windows lined one side of the room and near the back was a shelf that housed a number of tablets that he presumed was for school work. On the walls were various blank boards but Darien couldn't think what those would be for.

"Please, take a seat." The man said, gesturing towards a desk with a tablet already resting on it. With a nod, he stiffly made his way to the desk and sat down; the chair's slight creek mimicked the sound he thought his bones were making. Akiyama moved to the teacher's desk and sat down in the more comfortable chair that did not creek and gave an encouraging smile. "Don't be nervous Asher-kun, I'm sure with your scores you have nothing to worry about." With a deep breath Darien sighed.

"Thanks, I hope so."

"When you're ready you may begin, when you're done just bring the tablet up to me." With that, for the next two, maybe three hours, he was tested on every subject known to man. Had to calculate the terminal velocity for a piece of ice plummeting from a hundred thousand feet and provide a diagram of what would happen if some insects were removed from food chains. Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad, but it sure felt like it. When he was finished he let out a long, slow breath, got up and made the mile long walk to Akiyamas desk. After an eternity which couldn't possibly have been the few minutes it took the older gentleman to log into the tablet with his ID and look over the answer sheet, the man turned to him.

"Very good, almost perfect, could use some work in history and science but other than that, you pass." Darien clenched his hands into fists and gave a loud mental cheer, a smug grin spreading across his face. It hadn't been that bad after all and now that it was over he had to wonder what had him so nervous in the first place. Alright! Now I can go home and-

The metallic click of a door opening brought his thoughts to a screeching halt. He turned to see a girl there, around his age he guessed. She wore glasses with oval lenses; two sections of her dark hair were bound and dangled beside her round cheeks. Like himself, she wore a uniform, identifying her as a student. Her dark eyes went from him to the teacher and he could only assume she had been assessing him in much the same way, then he noticed that she was holding a tablet of her own.

"Ah Shino-san, it's good to see you. Can I help you with something?" She nodded, but then turned her gaze back to Darien.

"Yes, but it can wait if I'm interrupting something."

"Of course, where are my manners? Shino Asada, this is Asher Darien, a new student here." Shino responded by giving a small bow to him.

"A pleasure." She said her voice collected and calm.

"Y-yeah, same here." He replied, giving a bow of his own, which felt really weird. Was this really something he'd have to be doing all the time?

"So what can I do for you?" Akiyama asked.

"Yes, I was just some clarification about the work you assigned over the break. I called ahead and the office said you'd be in today." Darien took a few steps back and zoned out of their conversation. A classmate… He thought to himself, someone else I'll likely have nothing to do with. I may be able to make a virtual world friend, but here I'm still a loner, oh well. It's not like I've had many people to hang out with in the real world anyway. Not much has changed; different place, different culture, but people are still the same.

"Asher-kun." The teacher said, tearing Darien from his thoughts. He turned to look at the man, eyebrows lifted. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Oh, no, sorry."

"Just make sure it doesn't happen during class," He sighed, "I have a meeting I have to attend to so I asked Shino-san to give you a tour of the grounds. Is that alright?" The young man stiffened and looked over to the girl in question. Which didn't really help, her face was expressionless, leaving him with little to go on. If she didn't want to he wouldn't make her but it sounded like she had already agreed.

"Sounds fine to me." He says after taking a moment to choose his words carefully. Shino sighed but Akiyama seemed pleased, he stood up and clapped his hands together.

"It's settled then, I expect you to be able to find your way back here by the time fall break ends, Asher-kun." Darien sighed, placing a hand on his hip and simply nodding. He was just ready to get out of this room. The two of them followed their teacher out of the classroom, back down the hall and gave him a goodbye bow. Which he still felt was a little awkward, wouldn't a wave be fine? After Akiyama was gone he turned to Shino.

"So, where to first?"

"Just follow me." She replies and turns, walking across the path to the next building. Cold, Darien thought with a small smile. Nevertheless he caught up to her in a few strides as she began the painstaking task of showing him around. He had seriously underestimated the scale of this place! It was more like a university campus than a high school! It had everything, a gym full of equipment, several clubs including but not limited to: Kendo, Judo, Karate, Volleyball, Basketball, Baseball, Swimming, and Gymnastics. Including a large field to practice the sports and in-door facilities in case of bad weather, each building was dedicated to a subject or area of study. With the floors more or less representing class levels, with senior classes being on the top floor, save a few specific exceptions.

To her credit, Shino had been invaluable. The more they walked and the more questions he asked; the less cold and more approachable she seemed to be. Maybe she's a bit like me, he thought, someone who's alone but not necessarily by choice. At least, not entirely. They started drawing closer to the front gate of the school as the sun started to dip into the early afternoon. He had to wonder how long this tour had taken.

"This place really is huge," Darien found himself saying aloud. "Thanks for your help Shino-san."

"Don't worry about it, this place isn't hard to navigate once you get used to it." She said, giving him a small reassuring smile, which he returned. Maybe we could be friends, he found himself thinking.

"Hey…" He began and she turned, giving him I puzzled look. "I was thinking that-" The sound of footsteps cut him off and he looked up to see three girls. Shino saw them a moment later and he saw her tense up. She knew them… He examined them more closely. The one to the right was a sunken creature; she looked like she had walked right off the set of a Rob Zombie movie. Then again, that might be too much of a compliment. Her hair fell in thin strands about her and she looked a few shades paler than a person should be. The one to the left was opposite; chubby with big round cheeks he swore she was puffing out and was wearing a bit of makeup which looked to be slightly smeared.

They both seemed the lackey type and took orders from the one in front. Their leader had a waspish chin with glossy lips and primly plucked eyebrows and a squished nose. A bit of a mix of the two with an insect twist, the three of them seemed like a prime example of something he liked to call a bitch-squad. Though in this case it would be a trio but squad rolled off the tongue better. All three wore casual pants and long sleeve shirts. They also all had expressions of anger or indignation.

"Hey, hey Asada, long time no see." The one in front called, her words sounded slightly slurred with a clear condescending tone. "Did you finally make yourself a friend?"

"Endou-san," Shino replied calmly. "What are you doing here?"

"That's mean Asada, I asked you first. But I don't know why, it's not like anyone would be friends with you once they know what you've done." Darien narrowed his eyes, oh bitch did not just say that. She reached into her purse and pulled out a gun, pointed it at Shino he tensed and started walking forward. "Don't think I've forgotten how you humiliated me Asada, in front of my friends no less. So I've been practicing so I wouldn't make any more mistakes. Now I'll make you pay." Something in him snapped and without thinking he put himself between the drunken girl and Shino. Both of them gasped in surprise.

"Hey, what are you-" Endou started.

"Shut up." Darien said quietly, his hands balled into tight fists and his jaw tightened. His body shook with rage and he glared daggers at the girl who kept walking forward.

"Oh, I see, you're new here. Let me tell you something about that girl you're protecting. She's a-"

"I said shut up bitch!" His voice snapped like a whip and Endou stopped in her tracks. "If there's something she wants to tell me, she can say so herself, I won't hear it from the likes of you!" He took a step forward and as a reaction she leveled the gun on him. Now that he was closer he could tell it was fake, a toy pistol that shot pellets. "And another thing, if you're going to point that thing at me, you better be ready to use it." This time his voice came out in the low growl of barely contained violence.

In response she pulled the trigger; pop, the pellet flew and hit him square in the forehead. He felt a sudden flare of pain and something warm ran down beside his nose. He sprung forward with a roar, another small pop followed but she didn't have much luck with her aim this time. The pellet grazed harmlessly off his shoulder. In a breath he was in the girls face and he reacted on pure impulse. His hand swept out, grasping her wrist while the other straightened and jabbed the pressure point beneath her shoulder. She yelped in pain and recoiled, dropping the gun.

Darien followed up, his fist lashing out and landing a solid blow to her nose, hard enough to hurt but not enough to break the bone. Endou landed flat on her bitchy behind as he looked over her. His eyes went from one of the lackeys to the other, both flinched. This close he could smell the booze on them, finally he lowered his gaze back to the girl whose nose he had bloodied and kicked the toy back to her.

"Get out of here." He said quietly. "And don't come near us again." She gave a sharp nod and grabbed the gun. The motion reminded him of a mouse trying to get food off a trap without setting it off. Once she had it, she got up and the three of them ran as fast as their wobbly noodle legs could take them without looking back.

"Sorry Asher-kun." Asada said behind him, he blinked in surprise. For a second there he had forgotten about her. He turned and saw an odd expression on her face, a mixture of uncertainty and a twinge of guilt. "It's not even your first day here and I caused you to get into a fight, worse, you're hurt."

"Please," He scoffed, loosening the dark colored tie from his neck. He used the soft cloth to press against the scratch on his forehead and clear his face. "It's just a scratch, head wounds just bleed a lot and that wasn't a fight. Besides, she had it coming. Come on, let's get out of here." He said, waving her over. "I hate people like that. They only have guts when they're drunk or outnumber you." The two of them left the school behind and took a right down the sidewalk, opposite of where the girls ran.

"Even still, it might be best for you not to associate with me Asher-kun."

"Don't worry about it. If I didn't want to associate with you, I wouldn't. It's as simple as that. I want to be your friend and I protect my friends. For better or worse and if you wouldn't mind, call me Darien." He said, meeting her eyes and gave her a smile and she gave one to match.

"Alright, Darien-kun," They walked together for a while longer before saying their goodbyes and going separate ways. He'd see her again soon enough, they were classmates after all. Even with all that happened this morning, this had been a great day!