Hello. Sorry, I've been really, really busy and stuff. I had something almost every day for the past week or so, and I've also been rehearsing for this big band concert I have on June 10th. We play rock music in our school band. Our band (excuse the pun) rocks! Well, here it is. Enjoy.

--

Time is the school in which we learn,
Time is the fire in which we burn.

-Delmore Schwartz

Oujou stared at him incredulously. "Oh, so now you have something to tell me."

Satsuto grimaced. "There's a reason that so many people are after you, and were after your parents. They were—" He broke off, swearing vividly under his breath. Oujou swore as well, grabbing his arm and dragging him with her towards the nearest tree. "We really need to get out of here. There's a—"

"Sniper," she finished. "Yeah, I know. Look, I know somewhere close by that we can go. It's about as safe as you're going to get here." Satsuto nodded and together they began to run—as fast as possible, as they were hampered by Oujou's injuries and crutches—towards a section of the hill that Oujou was leading them towards.

A few moment later they reached their destination, and Oujou shoved Satsuto into the human-sized opening in the hill, waited for the thump that signified that he had landed, then climbed in herself. She landed awkwardly and stumbled forward, falling into Satsuto. He steadied her, his hands gripping her shoulders; she winced and tried to pull away. He let go immediately.

"Sorry," he muttered. Oujou nodded, turning to punch a few numbers into a keypad next to her head. A metal cover screeched closed overhead, blocking out all sunlight. Immediately, lights turned on.

Satsuto looked around. In the cavernous room they currently inhabited, computers monitors lined the walls; all were off, their blank screens reflecting the light coming from the bulbs recessed into the ceiling.

"What is this place?" Satsuto demanded, peering intently around the room.

Oujou frowned. "It was my…secret hideout when I was a kid. My parents also used it and sometimes we would come in here for days on end."

"To hide," Satsuto murmured. Oujou blinked.

"What?" Oujou was confused; that much was evident in her expression, which she was determined—and failing—to keep blank.

Satsuto frowned, looking like a little kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "I'll finish what I was telling you before. Your parents were the most powerful Alice-users in the world."

--

Flashback

"Mommy, mommy," a young Kanjouinyuu called to her mother, the beautiful, black-haired Hiruka. Hiruka's features were petite and haunting, and her long sleeves—even in summer—neatly covered the scars that run up and down the length of both of her arms from the many missions she went on during her childhood—if you could call it that.

"What is it, honey?" Hiruka asked, picking Kanjouinyuu up.

Kanjouinyuu grinned, her straight white teeth glimmering. "Where are we going? Daddy won't tell me." She tried to pull her mouth into a pout, but she was smiling too hard.

Hiruka wasn't smiling as she glanced over to her husband, Kisuke, watching as he stuffed clothes into a small suitcase. "Won't he? We're going on a trip, honey, to the secret place. You remember the secret place, right?" Kanjouinyuu nodded, happy.

Kanjouinyuu wiggled down from her perch in her mother's arms and ran out of the room to find her dolls to play with. Hiruka immediately walked over to Kisuke. "When should we tell her that I'm pregnant?" Hiruka asked softly, laying her head on Kisuke's shoulder.

"We can tell her after the threat has passed. But what are we going to do when our children—"

"If they survive," Hiruka broke in.

Kisuke nodded. "If they survive, what are we going to tell them when they are older, old enough to understand alices and what is going on? Will we tell them who we are, and why we always have to hide? Will we tell them about Gakuen Alice and your brother and the missions? What if we die before they get a chance to grow up? What if one of them dies?"

Closing her eyes, Hiruka answered, "We can deal with that when they grow up. Right now we have to focus on today." Suddenly, a phone rang from a night table on one side of their bed and Hiruka walked over and picked it up; it was a black cell phone. "Yes…What? No, he can't—"

She was cut off by the other person's rushed words. "Are you positive?" Her voice, hysteric a moment ago, was calm now, methodical. "I can come…No, I am not giving up my only child to you…I don't care what you think, but she's so much safer with us than she would ever by with you…She's four. She isn't your plaything...Good bye."

Kisuke frowned. "Who was that?" Hiruka waited a moment before answering, closing the phone and placing it back in the exact spot she had taken it from before speaking.

"It was the Academy. Samori's dead."

End of Flashback

--

Oujou nodded and walked over to one of the many chairs, sitting down. "You need to tell me everything. Start from the beginning." Satsuto walked over to another chair, one close to her, and sat down, resting his head in his hands as he began.

"Your parents were known as the most powerful alice users of all time. They were much more powerful than Hyuuga-san is now, and he is one of the most powerful now. Your mother had Nullification and Empathy. Your father had the Exchange of energy. They both went to the Academy from when they were six till they were eighteen. Your mother also had a brother…Satsuto-sama, and he died protecting her on a mission.

Satsuto shuddered suddenly, remembering. "While they were at the Academy, your mother and my father were…lovers." Oujou cringed, absentmindedly fingering her crutches. "After Satsuto-sama died, they knew that they could never be a couple. Your mother couldn't bear to stay at the Academy, and my father, forced to uphold the family tradition of being the headmaster, couldn't leave. Your parents, who were friends in the Academy, left when they were eighteen, and got married a few years later. They dropped off the radar for a while after that.

"Eventually, my father found them. And you." He slumped back in the chair. "He visited the three of you every few months for years, up until a few months before he died." Oujou got the impression that he was omitting something from his story. "Both the AAO and the central Academy Headquarters in Paris wanted your parents. That's why you're so…important. You are their only child. You could be more powerful than they were."

Oujou made a face. "Thanks." Satsuto smiled, but it didn't reach anywhere near his eyes.

"Your parents were amazing. I was named after Satsuto-sama. He was my father's best friend."

Frowning, Oujou asked, "Why do you call him Satsuto-sama?"

Satsuto hesitated for a moment, reluctant to answer. Finally, he explained, "My father always told me that Satsuto-sama should always be respected, because he gave his life for your mother."

Oujou's voice was amused as she replied, "Lovely. My mother's brother is addressed more highly than the headmaster. Isn't that just wonderful?" Satsuto snickered and sat up straight in the chair. He turned it around to stare at one of the computers.

"What is all this stuff?" he demanded. Oujou frowned and started to get up to look at it. Satsuto shook his head. "You don't have to get up. I can check it." But Oujou continued to stand up and, placing her crutches on the ground, limp over. She leaned over and turned on the tower, then the monitor. The screen flickered to life and a moment later it logged on automatically.

Oujou clicked on "My Documents" in the start menu, and almost immediately, lines of files began to appear. She clicked on one labeled "Academy". A long list of Word documents appeared. Frowning, she began scrolling through them until she reached on labeled "Missions".

Curious, she opened it. Text filled up the screen almost immediately, running down over ten pages.

"What is this?"

--

I won't give you any promises, but I will post before June 19, which is my last day of school. After next week, I shouldn't be so busy. After the 29th, I think, I'm going to be away for three weeks, so I won't be able to post then, but I promise to post at least twice before then.

Thank you.