Disclaimer: I own a majority of the characters in this story (part of the few things I actually do own) but there will be some characters in later chapters that I don't own. I wish I did though… Anyway, they'll be various teenage characters from Capcom games; don't worry, you'll know them when you see them. Enjoy the Story!

Ebony Grove High

Chapter 2

Ebony Grove Boarding School-School for the Talented Hallway-Free Periods

Krystal gave Solan a tour of every nook and cranny in the school. The classrooms, the art rooms, the technology labs, she was giving him the grand tour to prevent him from getting lost in the enormous facility. Though she couldn't help but feel like Solan's attention was set on something else. He seemed to be a little spaced out whenever she turned around to see if he was still there.

Krystal stopped in front of the main gymnasium of the school. Solan, who hadn't stopped in time, crashed into her. It took a lot of her strength to keep herself from falling flat on her face.

"I'm sorry, Krystal-chan. I should have watched where I was going," Solan apologized in Japanese, though he looked behind him as if he was looking for something. Krystal took note of this but waved his apology away. "Oh, that's okay Solan-kun, I should have warned you." She turned to the entrance of the gym and grinned.

"And this is our main gymnasium, used by the students and faculty to train and practice their martial arts. This is one of the main highlights of the school. Many martial artists have graduated here in assorted styles. Muay Thai, T'ai Chi Quan, Kendo, just to name a few. Many students either learn new fighting styles here, or improve on them with the teachers. You want to take a look inside?" Krystal said cheerfully. This had definitely gained the silver haired boy's attention. He returned the grin and nodded.

The two students walked into the large area. The gym was enormous that it took Solan's breath away. There were a couple punching bags and battered training dummies positioned on the other side of the gym. In the middle of the gymnasium was a large padded floor for combatants to fight on without seriously injuring themselves. The room had very high ceiling to prevent anyone from flying into it when they either jump or ejected into the air.

This precaution still hasn't helped, as Solan noted, because as he looked up and saw a couple of repairmen fixing what seemed to be a hole in the roof. Krystal, who followed Solan's gaze to the ceiling, blushed and stuttered in an embarrassed manner, "Heh, um, that hole was made from one of the previous fights that took place." Solan eyed the blushing girl and asked slyly, "You sent some poor sap through the ceiling one day when you were fighting, didn't you?" The now cherry-red schoolgirl bowed her head as she replied meekly, "Yes. It was an accident, though. I sent him flowers and signed his leg and arm casts." Solan snickered at the sight of a boy being rocketed into the air by one of Krystal's attacks and shook his head.

Krystal quickly changed the subject before she could embarrass herself any further. "So, you've keeping up with your training?" Solan nodded as he tore his eyes from the scene above to his friend. "Yeah, a couple street fights here and there. You'd be surprised how many amazing fighters there are." Krystal blinked and shrugged. "Well, the only way I can get word of the other street fighters in the outside world is by magazines."

Her expression changed from that of happy to confusion and sadness. "Solan-kun, I can't figure out how you are standing right here infront of me. Its scientifically impossible and... And I was at the funeral and all..." she said in a shaky voice, her eyes glistened with unshed tears. Solan looked down at her and hugged her gently as she cried in his arms. He didn't even know how to explain his "death." "Krystal-chan, at the funeral, it wasn't my body in the coffin. My father put a hologram of me in there..." Solan looked at the girl before him. Krystal, who immediately stopped sobbing, looked up at her friend in utter confusion. "Why would he do that? He was so emotional at the funeral, they had to take him back to your mansion to console him."

Solan snorted scornfully at this statement as he tried to picture his devious and uncaring father crying uncontrollably. "Those tears you saw from him were most likely tears of happiness instead of sadness. He had this all planned perfectly so he would take me out of the picture permanently," the teenage boy muttered. Krystal looked at him, still not understanding why his father would even want to rid of his only son.

"But why? Why would he want to deceive everyone, even his wife, you mother, into thinking you had died? What he told everyone was quite believable, seeing how many envied your family's wealth." The girl wiped her tear stained face gingerly, though her eyes were still threatening to release the crystalline droplets of water.

The boy opened his mouth to speak when the gym doors opened noisily and two females walked in. They both wore the school's traditional girls' uniform, though the two wore additional accessories.

The taller girl wore a white sash tied tightly on her forehead, and the remainder of the sash streamed down her back. Her dark brown hair was cut in a boyish style, though it looked adorable on her. She wore apple red handguards on both hands and red Converse sneakers.

Her shorter friend, who was busily chattering away, had almost the same hair cut, though it had a wilder look to it. The girl's bangs strayed on both sides of her face, though they were not bothering the female's vision. She wore a thick white headband instead of a sash, and adorned tan colored handguards that resembled gloves.

Both girls waved to Krystal happily and walked over to her. "Oiy, Krystal-chan! What's up! Hey, looks like we have a new student," remarked the short girl. Krystal nodded as she replied back, "Hai. You guys, This is Solan Tenou, Solan, this is Hinata Wakaba and the other is Sakura Kasugano." Solan's eyes widened at the mention of the two girls' names. He had heard their names before a couple of times, mostly in Japan.

The two girls waved and then looked to Krystal. "We're going upstairs, we'll see you later, right?" Sakura asked the girl. Krystal nodded and pulled Solan with one hand and waved goodbye with the other.

"I'll be up there at about 3:00, okay? Ja ne!" And with that, the brunette pulled the stunned boy out of the gym and towards the dormitories.

Hinata and Sakura blinked as they watched the two leave. Hinata turned to her friend and asked, "He looked familiar, didn't he? And built! Hopefully he's a good fighter." Sakura stared on, something else on her mind.

'There is something strange about that guy. He was looking at Hinata and me strangely. And, I couldn't help but feel…something from him. No, it's from that medallion he had on. Bronze, and had some sort of double horned animal on it with green eyes. The eyes looked like they were glowing. I'll have to keep an eye on him, just to be on the safe side.'