Irene rolled up the sleeves of her ill fitting uniform and swallowed while standing between the school gates. In addition to moving houses, Irene was placed in another school – Jim's. Irene was too proud to let her fear show, but still didn't take a step. She glanced at the other children. Loud, noisy, messy and annoying. She missed the calmness.

"Scared, Irene?" She frowned and spun around, seeing Jim's smug face behind her.

"No!" She firmly replied. He laughed and walked past her, stopping at the gates. He lifted a foot and smugly stepped inside the gates. He motioned Irene to do the same thing. She stared at him and shook her head. Jim rolled his eyes and turned, walking towards the school, leaving her behind. Irene swallowed and her eyes watered. Jim never looked back.

"Are you alright?" A young boy stepped out from behind the gates shyly. He was a little bit taller than her with messy blonde hair. His blue eyes sparkled.

"No." Irene repeated quietly. He smiled and stood next to her.

"It's not that hard, see?" He took her hand and lifted on foot forward, gently placing it on the ground. Irene breathed in and followed, gripping the boy's hand tightly. She stepped forward, closing her eyes. She slowly opened her eyes and smiled.

"Thank you." She beamed at the boy. "Passing through those gates alone would have killed me otherwise." She blinked her eyes as the boy look confused. "Only the support of a prince would have prevented my death." Irene shook the boy's hand and starting walking. The boy held her back.

"Wait –what?" He looked so confused.

"I am a beautiful princess who is sent away to a dark and terrible castle." She pointed at the school dramatically. "However, I must cross the gates which are made out of..." She thought about it, "Horseradish."

"Horseradish?" He repeated. Irene nodded.

"I don't like horseradish. Anyway, its poison to me, and I need a prince to help protect me so I can get through the gates." Irene smiled and continued walking away. The boy raced up and touched her shoulder.

"My name is Sebastian Moran. Yours?" He asked. Irene smiled and opened her mouth.

"Irene Adler. And don't worry. I won't tell anyone." She winked and walked.

"Tell anyone what?" Sebastian asked. Irene turned around and grinned.

"That you wet your bed." She cheekily clicked her tongue and ran off, leaving Sebastian dumbstruck.

LATER

It was lunchtime. Irene survived the first half of the day with little success. She didn't make any friends. They all thought she was weird. Then again, it probably wasn't normal for a ten year old to be able to tell if the teacher smoked a packet of cigarettes a day. She wasn't impressed and told her to stay behind. Irene wasn't the only one though. A boy, her age, was also in trouble. From the way the teacher talked to him he was in it often. The boy wasn't in Irene class for she hasn't seen him before.

"Today you two will just clean the board, understand?" The teacher, who's name was Miss Olsen, told Irene and the boy. "Maybe then we will grow some manners." She turned and walked up to the back of the classroom and opened a cabinet. Before, Miss Olsen gave Irene a cloth and spray and the boy a polisher. They started their punishment.

"Hi." Irene said to the boy. He turned to her, looked up and down and resumed his work. Irene frowned and tried again. "What are you in for?" The boy looked up and smiled.

"You wouldn't understand." He shrugged, smug. Irene tilted her head. The boy reminded her so much of Jim.

"Tell me." She grinned. The boy blinked and returned it.

"I told the whole class that Miss Olsen wasn't a natural brunette. She got offended and huffed." The boy looked over to Miss Olsen, unaware of the children's conversation.

"Really? I got in trouble because I said that she smokes up to a pack of cigarettes a day." The boy's smile faded.

"No she doesn't. I would have known that." His eyes narrowed.

Irene smiled. "How?" The boy pouted his lip.

"Her fingers. There are brown stains. Obviously from hair dye. Her eyebrows are of a lighter shade." Irene laughed.

"That's all? Not much to go off."

"And about your claim?" the boy retorted.

"Those stains? Not from hair dye. My mother dyes her hair and those stains are the wrong colour. More like from constantly holding a cigarette. Her eyebrows are not lighter, they are thinner. Plus, she clearly has smoker's teeth."

The boy's eyes were wide open. "But-?"

"I just know." Irene smirked.

"You're smart." The boy said. "Like, me smart."

"Thank you." Irene tried to understand. "I take that as a compliment."

"I'm Sherlock. Sherlock Holmes."

"That's a funny name." Irene wrinkled her nose. The boy puffed up.

"Well, what's yours?"

"Irene Adler."

"Well, Irene. That was a lucky shot." Sherlock replied. Irene looked over to the teacher.

"Not really. I do stuff like that all the time." Sherlock seemed interested.

"What can you tell about me?" Sherlock raised an eyebrow.

"You?" Irene repeated. "Um." Irene scratched her head and looked Sherlock up and down. "Not much actually. You seem okay." She shrugged. "Except for that mark on your neck." Sherlock froze. Irene smiled. It just poked out from underneath Sherlock's blue scarf. She could tell he was trying to hide it. "Is it a bruise? A scratch?" Sherlock looked down. "I think it is a bruise. Does Sherlock have a little bully?" Irene laughed but stopped when Sherlock nodded. "Who?" Irene asked softly, embarrassed for laughing.

"Jim." Sherlock said, not looking into her eyes. Irene repeated the name.

"But I thought Jim was nice." Sherlock shook his head.

"He's mean." Irene pouted.

"I think we can fix that. You are coming with me for lunch and we'll see how tough little Jimmy is."