By: Ann Lowe
Chapter Two © 2/16/04 -- 2/17/04
Author's Notes: I take no responsibility for the weirdness of this chapter. I have to introduce characters somehow. And, dude, y'all better love me for the people web I had to do. Seriously. And, erm, I claim nothing Clay says. He's just a big prick. Yeah.
Disclaimer: I do not own Megami Kouhosei, that right is held by Sugisaki Yukiru-senpai and the people that ran the anime (I dunno who they are. . .). I own a DVD and some dreams here, folks. *grin* If I owned the series. . .well, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction.
Warnings: Yaoi, Yuri, Angst, Death, Blood, Angst, Language, Inner Monologue (yes, those deserve warnings), Angst, Death, and Romance if you dig for a long ways and use a microscope. The dig is becoming less strenuous. *wink*
Story Teaser: In the end, love did not suffice. They saved humanity, and thus were given a second chance; who but the most ignorant would pass it up? G/E, H/Z (Reincarnation with a twist.)
Chapter Teaser: Arrivals, speeches, and introductions. Hot DAMN, we're in school! (There went the last of the authoress' sanity. . .yep.)
*~*~*~*
"Whoa," Gareas breathed, walking onto Philly's main campus. Despite his mother working there, he'd never actually been to the school -- it was across eighteen districts. Ernest, his sole companion at the moment, chuckled slightly. Their parents had decided to go in and get their children's dorm keys while the kids stared in awe. "It's huge!" Ernest patted him on the shoulder.
"Yes, Garu. . .it's huge," Ernest soothed.
"Oh, shush, you. You've been here before!"
"Yes, Garu. . .I've been here before," Ernest managed to say in the same tone of voice.
"Jerk."
". . .point being?" Ernest asked, eyebrows raised.
"That you're a jerk," Gareas responded lamely. "Oh, shut up."
"Wasn't gonna say a thing," Ernest said, raising his hands in surrender. "Now, here's our folks. Let's go up to our dorms, okay?"
Ten minutes later they were in the A dorm complex, fifth floor.
"At least we're on the same floor," Gareas consoled himself as he helped Ernest put his stuff away.
"Yes, Garu. Quit whining," Ernest teased.
When they were done with Ernest's stuff, they moved on to Gareas'. While they were arranging his desk, a boy their age with shaggy black hair and almost-black eyes wandered into the room with a box. He dropped the box on the bed and held out his hand.
"Heya! I'm Carl Kolski. I assume one of you is Gareas Elidd?" he asked with a huge grin.
"Yep, that'd be me," Gareas replied, shaking the other boy's hand. "This is Ernest Cuore."
"Pleased to meet you!" Carl said cheerfully, reaching out to shake Ernest's hand. He blinked a couple times when Ernest put his hands behind his back and blushed. "Don't like to be touched?" he asked mildly. "Don't worry about it," Carl said with nonchalance, waving an arm. "Nice to meet you anyway."
Ernest just stared at him for a while before bowing slightly. "And the same to you," he said in a quiet voice.
"It speaks!"
Gareas started laughing. "Pal, I think you'n'me are gonna get on real well," he got out between chuckles. "Don't worry, he gets more talkative. Whether he'll admit it or not." Gareas winked at his long-time best friend. Ernest just poked his tongue out.
Carl grinned. "I bet we are. Don't they room people together by personality?"
"Yeah, I think so. . ." Gareas trailed off and looked to the doorway, where Erts was standing. "Erts, could you answer that one?" Erts chuckled.
"Yes, you're roomed according to personality. We trail all the prospective students for three months, then stick you with someone we hope you'll get along with. Because, you know, you have to room together for three years."
"Cool, someone who knows what he's talking about!" Carl exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. "You work here or something?"
"Yes. I'm the History 1 teacher. I also teach History of the Victim War, but that's an elective for 2nd and 3rd year students," Erts replied, bowing slightly. "My name is Erts Virny Cocteau. Ernest there," he thumbed at the boy, "is my son. I'm not one for shaking hands either. Hope you don't mind."
"Oh, so it's a genetic thing, eh?" Carl rubbed his chin a bit before his eyes lit up. "I got it! You're telepaths! . . .or empaths. Either'd fit." Erts and Ernest just stared at him.
"Wow, nail on the head," Gareas said with a chuckled. "It is the smart-people school! Kick ass!"
"And here you didn't want to come. . ." Ernest teased, poking Gareas in the side. "C'mon, let's go see if my roomie's here yet."
"All right. Wanna come with, Carl?" Gareas invited.
"In a bit; gotta unpack. Which room are you?" Carl asked, opening the box he'd just set on his bed.
"Forty-three."
"Got'cha. Wait for me there, 'kay?"
"No problem!" Gareas called as they started walking down the hall. They only had to wait a few minutes before a boy with light brown hair and wide green eyes (amplified to even more large and shiny-ness by glasses) walked into the room. He blinked at them a couple times before putting his box down.
"Hi. I'm Will Lowe," he said uncertainly, bowing.
"Nice to meet you!" Gareas exclaimed, beaming. "My name's Gareas Elidd. I'm not your room mate -- " he pulled Ernest in front on him, " -- he is!"
Ernest laughed slightly. "I'm Ernest Cuore. Nice to meet you." He bowed back to the smiling boy.
"Wow. . .they do room you according to personality. . ." Gareas muttered in awe. "You're both so quiet I can hear the cicadas." This earned an elbow from the younger blond boy. A couple minutes later, Carl appeared. Will was done unpacking by then, as well (Gareas and Ernest had helped).
"Wanna go down to the auditorium?" Ernest asked, directing the question at both teenagers and parents.
"Sure!" Gareas chirped, Carl echoing him. Will nodded. "Erts. . .lead us?" Gareas asked, turning to face the only adult not already in the auditorium meeting teachers.
"No problem. I'm Erts Virny Cocteau, by the way," he said, introducing himself to Will. "I'm the History 1 teacher here. I also teach History of the Victim Wars and raise children." He pointed at Ernest, "That one's mine," and then Gareas, "and that one's always around, so I've claimed him, too." Gareas and Ernest chuckled. Will just smiled happily.
"My parents are with my cousin. His parents didn't want to drive him all the way over here, so they called us," Will said, happy smile disappearing. "My aunt and uncle -- my mom's sister and her husband -- are jerks. My uncle's sister died and her adopted son got sent to live with them. He's really kinda bitter. . .but we try to be nice to him. He's one floor down."
Erts nodded sadly. "We get a lot of kids with shitty parents. They have more hidden talents, I guess." The group chuckled softly. "Want to go meet up with them and go to the auditorium?"
"Yeah. They should be done unpacking by now."
The group headed downstairs, and Will lead the way towards dorm 37. "Hey mom, dad. This is my roommate, Ernest," Will said, introducing him. "And then Ernest's dad, one of the teacher's here, sorry I forgot your name already." Will scratched the back of his head apologetically. Erts chuckled a little.
"Erts Virny Cocteau. I'm the History -- " Gareas and Ernest cut him off and recited in unison:
"The History 1 and History of the Victim Wars teacher."
"Ha. Ha," Erts grumbled, mussing up both their hair.
"This is Gareas Elidd, Ernest's friend, and Carl. . .something, he didn't say, Gareas' room mate."
"Nice to meet all of you," Mrs. Lowe said kindly, bowing her head. "My nephew is almost ready. Aren't you, dear?" she asked kindly into the room.
"Yes," a dead voice replied emerging.
"And this is my cousin," Will said with a smile. "Hiead Gner."
Recovering swiftly -- and being the only one in need of recovery -- Erts bowed his head politely. "Nice to meet you."
Hiead's red eyes bore into him and the boy smirked. "Yes, very nice," he said in his usual bored drawl. "We were going to the auditorium?" The group nodded, slightly taken aback by Hiead's cold personality. "Then let's go."
"Oh, you haven't let us introduce our -- " Hiead cut Ernest off.
"I heard the introductions from inside the room. I'll just place voices with faces. Come on," Hiead said irritably. The group nodded, standing a little straighter, and headed down to the base of the building and over to the auditorium.
When Gareas saw Leena, he waved hugely to her. Tune had been on duty, but gave all her best wishes.
"Mom!" Gareas yelled over all the noise in the auditorium. Leena looked over from where she'd been having a conversation with Clay and Saki and waved. She only did a slight double-take at the party her son had managed to conjure up. Her eyes only stayed on Hiead half a second too long.
When they reached Leena, they were all ready for introductions. As Gareas introduced the group around him -- Gareas being the only one who remembered everyone's name, minus Hiead -- Leena took the time to memorize the faces.
"Well, I'm Leena Fujimura," Leena said politely. "I'm the German teacher here. I teach both the levels."
"I'm Clay Cliff Fortran," Clay said politely, bowing. "I'm the Principle, I guess. I run the place. This is my wife Saki." Saki smiled and waved at them. "Roose and Yamagi, your Vice Principles, are around here somewhere. Saki is the school counselor." He scanned the crowd. "Ah yes, there they are." Raising his voice so the two in question could hear him, Clay called for both the men. They came over not too much later. "Introduce yourselves," Clay said amiably, but his tone was slightly commanding.
"Right then. I'm Yamagi Kushida. This lug is Roose Sawamura. Nice to meet you," Yamagi said shortly, glaring at Clay. "We need to finish the stand roster, Clay. We'll see you in fifteen, when the introduction starts."
"Right. . ." Roose said with a sigh. "Back to the roster. Clay, you suck," he got out before Yamagi grabbed his arm and hauled him off.
Clay laughed cheerfully after them. "Oh don't worry, they're always that grouchy on admission day. They get better. Right, Erts?" Erts chuckled.
"Sure. . .if you say so. I mean, if you catch them at ten a.m. on a Saturday morning, sure." He smiled and Mr. and Mrs. Lowe, who were now eyeing the two Vices. "Oh, don't worry about it. They're great with kids, just not so much with adults. . .other than each other. They get along with the rest of the staff well enough, too. I think it's just parents they're weird around. Who knows?" he laughed as he shrugged his shoulders. "Now, Leena and I need to get to our stage places. Boys." He turned to look at Erts and Gareas. "Be good and sit with these nice people. Spit wad and die." Gareas and Ernest saluted, laughing.
"Sir, yes sir!" Gareas said, mocking a soldier. When Erts and Leena had both rolled their eyes and walked away he laughed some more, then held out his arm to Ernest. "Shall we?" he asked, sticking his nose up in the air and raising his eyebrows, pretending to be some rich renaissance schmuck.
"We shall," Ernest agreed, lacing his arm through the older boy's. They both grinned and pranced up the aisle until they found a row with enough seats for the entire group. A few minutes later, all but the stage light had dimmed, and Clay and Saki stepped out onto the stage, Roose and Yamagi behind them.
"Welcome to Philadelphia School for Exceptional Youngsters! Or, as you short-winded people like to call it, Philly! We love the beginning of each new school year -- new students and new atmospheres. Each class has its own unique feel to it, and we hope to learn yours soon. Hopefully it's admirable.
"Every year we accept one hundred students, and every year we graduate one hundred students. We've only lost a student once, and that was to cancer. If you'd like to offer a donation to the Cancer Foundation, there is a representative by the monument at the entrance to the school.
"Now. Our school likes to get everyone to know each other. To this end, we have every student introduce her or herself on orientation day. This may sound long and boring, but we try to make it as fun -- and random -- as we can. We will call your name, and you will stand up, tell us your name, and bow politely. One of the faculty members will ask you a random question: something like "what kind of shoes do you wear?" You then answer the question, bow again, and sit down. Sound fun?" A few chuckles arose. "Well, okay. Maybe not fun, per se, but more entertaining than, "My name is Clay Cliff Fortran, I'm thirty-five years old, have no children, and run a school." You have to admit that one." The audience laughed again. "All right, we begin!"
Roose and Yamagi stepped forward, each holding a sheet of paper.
"Madison Anderson?" Yamagi asked, voice ringing over the megaphone. Madison was asked her favorite childhood book. Things went accordingly until Yamagi asked, "Van Carter?"
"Here!" Van yelled, standing up. The audience chuckled. "I am Van Carter!"
"What's your favorite crappy song?"
"Favorite crappy one? Weird question, man. Uhm. . .I'd have to say "Larger Than Life" by the Backstreet Boys. 'Cuz, man does it suck, but I sing along every time I hear it. One of those things, I guess." He shrugged, saluted, and sat down.
Roose looked at his card. "Uh-oh. Kurt Carter?"
"Yo! KC's the name!" KC announced, bowing dramatically and waving.
"Yes, Mr. Carter," Roose chuckled. "What's your favorite bedtime story?"
"Bedtime story? Uhm. . .I don't think I ever got any of those. Van and I talk about guitar chords before we hit the sack, if that counts. It definitely lulls me to sleep when he starts ranting about some shitty secular band's chords, y'know?" Van slugged him, then pulled him back down.
"Right, then," Roose said, raising an eyebrow and passing it off. A short time later, Ernest got called.
"I am Ernest Cuore," Ernest said, bowing politely. Yamagi and Roose both scrunched their eyebrows together -- that name was familiar.
"What's your favorite board game?"
". . .I don't know. I think I've only ever played Monopoly. I think it might be unfair to answer thusly since I haven't tried anything else. So I'll have to pass," he said politely, smiling. The audience sweatdropped and Gareas snorted.
When they got to Gareas, the whole audience was waiting for another entertaining answer -- the ones in between Ernest and Gareas had been pretty normal.
"Gareas Elidd?" Roose called, double-checking his list. If you didn't know any better, you would have said his eyes bugged out when Gareas stood up.
"I am Gareas Elidd! Yo!" he announced, waving.
"Oh, er, uhm, what's your favorite gemstone?" Roose asked, blinking a couple times.
"Gemstone? Aren't those for girls?" Ernest sweatdropped. "Oh well. I'd have to say garnet, 'cuz it's a fun word. I mean, seriously. Whoever thought up "garnet" was a genius. It's just so -- " Ernest elbowed him. "Okay, I'm done now."
"Kelly Elrote?" Yamagi asked, unsurely.
"Hi!" Kelly said happily, standing up and waving. "I'm Kelly."
"What's your favorite pasta?"
". . .pasta is noodles, right? Uhm, spaghetti. 'Cuz if you pronounce it wrong you sound like a little kid. And that's funny." She smiled and waved again before sitting down. Yamagi sweatdropped.
"Rei Enna?" Roose asked. Having not known Zero's real first name, when his dead former candidate partner stood up, he had to do all in his power not to knock out the flooring with his jaw.
"Hiya. I usually go by "Zero" if that's okay. It should have been on there, but okay." Zero shrugged it off and grinned. "Right, I'm supposed to bow. Or wave? Oh, I can't remember. . ." He blinked a couple times. "Screw it."
"Uhm, what's your favorite book?"
"That wasn't very random. Okay, well, lessee. . . "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. Or any of its sequels. "Xenocide" was a little boring, but that's okay." Jay snorted and pulled him back down.
And if that wasn't enough, three names later. . .
Yamagi double-checked his list and then gave up -- the dead just weren't staying there. "Hiead Gner?"
As Hiead was standing up a voice proclaimed, "So that's how you pronounce it! The double-consonant thing was weirding me out." Zero laughed as the audience stared at Jay. "What?" Zero just kept on laughing, Van and KC with him. "Oh, c'mon, it was bothering me! Oh I give up. Screw the lot of ya."
Hiead cleared his throat and introduced himself, smirking slightly.
"What's your favorite pun?"
Hiead blinked. "People saying "what in hell?" If it's in front of you, it's not in hell." He shrugged. "If that's not a pun, think of one yourself," he said carelessly, sitting back down. Mr. and Mrs. Lowe laughed nervously a couple times. Yamagi and Roose just pouted.
It was quite a while before they got to Carl. . .but they did.
"Carl Kolski?" Yamagi asked.
"I am. . .Carl Kolski!" Carl said in a hushed drama-voice, jumping into a pose. The audience sweatdropped.
"Well, this is an appropriate question: what's your favorite dumb movie motto?" Gareas snorted.
"Uhm. . . "there can be only one." There can be only one of EVERYTHING. There isn't two of anything." He blinked over at Van and KC. "Except for maybe them." Van and KC both gave him a thumbs up.
The rest of the introductions went with many mentionables, leaving Roose, Yamagi, Clay, and Saki pretty sure they knew the aura of this crowd already -- they were all bonkers. And dead. Come back to life.
"Well, I'm sure we're going to have fun teaching you guys," Clay said, laughing slightly. "You are dismissed to a whole day with your homeroom classes. You'll be getting tours, more in-depth introductions, et cetera. Parents can stay here and yack with each other or go home. See you all at conferences." He blinked. "Which are at the end of the year. Not in the middle."
Saki took center stage. "All right! Everyone find your advisor! We've got all ten advisors up on the stage and I'll introduce them." Ten teachers filed onto the stage. "Aracd Narocke, Azuma Hijikata, Tukasa Kuscha, Sure La Card, Kizna Towryk, myself -- Saki Fortran, Erts Virny Cocteau, Phil Deed, Yu Hikura, and Edward Ginter. We'll all be outside waiting for our groups of ten. Come find us!" Saki said, smiling, and headed out one of the stage entrances, all the other advisors following her.
*~*~*~*
Zero looked at his schedule. Erts Virny Cocteau. He was the blond one. . . Zero looked around. He finally spotted Erts sitting under a tree, waiting for his advisement. By some cruel twist of Fate, he'd looked at his list and seen Zero's name.
Zero wandered over. He spotted KC immediately.
"KC!"
"Zero!"
"Dude -- someone I know. This is great," Zero said, letting out a slight sigh.
"Heya, I'm Hannah," a girl with short, wavy brown hair said, grinning. "Now you know two people."
"Sweet! I'm Zero Enna, nice to meet you!" Zero grinned, shaking her hand.
"Kurt Carter," Kurt said, bowing. "I usually go by KC, though. Kurt's too formal."
"Well, I'm Hannah Hanes. Dunno what nicks there are for Hannah, but I'm used to people calling me "Hanner." Liz and Alesia do all the time."
Zero and KC laughed. The three conversed until Erts stood up and cleared his throat. "All right, we're going to go inside to our classroom now. If you'll follow me?" he asked, leading them towards the building.
*~*~*~*
Ernest looked at his advisement. He blinked. Well, crap. He didn't know anyone. When the whole group was finally arranged and their teacher led them to their room, Ernest was still silently on his own.
*~*~*~*
Gareas looked at his advisement. Then he looked at Hiead.
"Well, I know you. That's a plus for me," he said, shrugging.
Hiead just blinked at him. Gareas was quickly saved from head explosion when two girls walked up to him.
"Hey. I loved your question answer. You're crazy. That's awesome," a girl with red hair grinned. "I'm Shannon Twiltsu."
"Yeah. We decided we wanted to be friends with you, so we came over," the other girl said, smiling. "I'm Alesia Silver."
Gareas laughed. "Gareas Elidd. Pleased to make your acquaintances. This is Hiead Gner. He's being a dip wad."
Hiead had to let his lip twitch up when he heard Azuma snort. So the man remembered him after all. This. . .will be interesting. Hey, at least he didn't have to see Zero any time soon.
*~*~*~*
The day had definitely been interesting, Zero had to give it that. When he got back to his room, he found Jay standing outside it, talking with a boy and girl Zero didn't recognize.
"Heya! Zero! Meet anyone interesting?" Jay called, waving to KC as well, who had tagged along.
"Sure we did!" KC replied for him. "This chick named Hannah. She's just like the femme version of me'n Van. "That really ditzy Kelly girl is in our homeroom, too. She's actually pretty cool." He blinked. "Dude! Hey Hannah!" he yelled, waving.
Sure enough, Hannah and another girl with shoulder-length, curly red hair appeared right across the hall.
"Hey," Hannah said, smiling. "This your room?" she asked, pointing to Zero and Hiead's room.
"Yeah, mine. Jay and KC are up on top floor. I dunno who these two are," he said with a shrug, motioning to Jay's two companions.
"Whoops," Jay said, chagrined. "This is Damion Schizo, my room mate. He's also in my homeroom. And this is Licy Torek, also in my homeroom. And Damion's last name is pronounced Skit-zo! Although it's pretty appropriate. . ." he said, laughing as Damion slugged him in the arm.
"Yeah, the rest of our homeroom is pretty dull. Even our advisor's quiet. Some guy named Yu Hikura. He's one of the science teachers," Licy said, shrugging.
"Yeah, Zero and I got Erts Virny Cocteau," Hannah said, nodding. "He's pretty fun, if a bit quiet. He kept looking at us funny, though."
KC nodded. "Yeah. When me, Zero, Hannah, and Kelly were sitting and talking during lunch, he kept looking over at us. Weird, huh?" The group nodded. "So who's your roomie?" KC asked, looking at Hannah's red-headed friend.
"Oh, this is Liz Savage. We're friends from way back," Hannah said, grinning as Liz yawned.
"Yeah, one of my friends moved from my district to Hannah's, they made friends, I met Hannah through her, then she moved again! She's here, too, though. So're a couple of our other friends. Uhm, I think I know about twenty-five people already. Or more," Liz said, grinning.
"Liz, you scare people," Hannah said, patting her friend on the shoulder. "You really do."
"You're just like Jay, geez!" Zero exclaimed, laughing. "You practically absorb people," he said, poking his taller friend.
"Thank you," Jay said, bowing. "But I really just know the band and their counterparts. Oh, and Nike's room mate."
"Oh geez. . ." KC said, laughing slightly. "I really hope Nike tells him that he's gay."
"Actually, his room mate's gay, too, so it all works out." The group blinked a couple times. "I just hope they don't get attracted to each other." Mass agreement.
"Ooh! Funny story!" Liz said, bouncing up and down. "Our friend Scott's going out with this guy named Mick. They got roomed together!"
Jay and KC blinked at her. "Michael Thompson, Mick? With Scott Larson?" KC asked.
"Yep."
"Wow -- we know similar people!" Jay said in awe. "Dude!"
"Cool! Well, you said "the band," and Mick's in a band, so I suppose I should have guessed. Scott lives in my district." She paused to think. "Actually, a lot of people from my district are here. Most of them are my good friends, too."
"Wow. There's four of us from our district, too," Zero said, nodding. "Me, Jay, KC, and Van."
KC grinned. "Speaking of the devil," he quipped as his twin showed up. "Meet the party and jump on the bandwagon, twin."
Van just stared at the group. "You guys are all bonkers. Honestly. But nice to meet you all, anyway. I'm Van Carter."
"You're named after a car!" Liz said, pointing and bouncing. Van sweatdropped while KC, Zero, and Jay snickered.
"I noticed, thanks. My parents were hippies," he said with a drawl.
Hiead took that moment to show up, trailed by Will. And of course, being trailed by Will, he was also trailed by Ernest, Carl, and Gareas. This, naturally, was annoying him.
"Hey!" Van shouted, waving to Will and Carl. "You two're in my homeroom!" He grinned. "I know people!"
KC patted him on the shoulder kindly. "Yes, Van, feel special while you can." Van slugged him.
"Oh, hi," Will said quietly, smiling.
"Yo!" Carl said, quite a bit more loudly, while he waved.
Zero poked Van. "Introductions, please," he growled.
"Oh, right! This is Will Lowe," Van said, pointing at Will, "and Carl Kolski. They're both in my homeroom. This is. . ." he looked at the group that had formed. "Crud. Well. . .KC, Jay, Damion, Licy, Liz, Hannah, and Zero," he said, pointing to each of them in turn.
"Nice to meet y'all. This is Gareas Elidd, Ernest Cuore, and Hiead Gner. I'm just following Gareas 'cuz I room with him. Gareas is following Ernest, Ernest is following Will, and Will is following Hiead. So we wound up here," he said, completely unfazed by this chain.
The group blinked, then they heard a voice in the distance shout, "Hey! Liz!" before two girls showed up.
"Heya!" Liz welcomed, glomping the taller one. "These two are Katy and Angie! Say "hi"," she instructed them.
"Katy Short," the taller girl said with a wry grin.
"Angie Heathers," the shorter one said.
One by one, the group introduced themselves again. By the time they were done, teachers were showing up to tell them to go to bed.
"Well, good night, all!" Zero said sleepily, pulling open the door to his and Hiead's room. "Nice to meet you!"
Once inside the room, the buoyant one flopped.
"Well, that was fun, ne?" he asked his silent-thus-far room mate.
"Hn," Hiead replied, changing into his pajamas.
"Oh, fine, be that way," Zero snorted, getting up to do the same. About ten minutes later all the lights in the building went out and both boys crawled into their beds.
This ain't fair. I thought they roomed you according to who you'd get along with the best. Not according to polar opposites! Zero though with a pout. Maybe he's just shy when you first meet him, he thought before drifting off.
Hiead, however, had no such luck falling asleep. The thoughts that plagued him mind were slightly more severe. So I'm stuck rooming with my past-life boyfriend, who doesn't remember me at all. This is just peachy. He groaned and rolled over. And my psyche, the one thing that stopped me from being nice to anyone the last time around, is just as fucked up as before. I have the intense urge to hold my room mate. Fuck. He rolled over again, pulling his pillow over his head. Fate is probably laughing her fat ass off by now. Fate or Teela, can't really tell the difference.
He groaned and rolled over one last time, tangling himself in his blankets. This sucks.
Just before he was finally able to drift off, a small noise broke the silence in his mind. He looked over to see Zero sit up with a start. Great, he still has nightmares. There goes my sleep pattern. . . Hiead was unable to remain upset, however, when he saw the now-older boy brush a tear off his cheek.
"Why. . .am I crying?" Zero muttered softly. Hiead groaned and sat up.
"Because you had a bad dream?" he supplied dryly, swinging his legs over the side of the bed to face the distraught boy.
"But. . .I can't remember my dream. I never can," he said, obviously a bit perturbed with this fact. "All I remember is that there was a lot of bright light, and that I hurt."
I can think of several situations that would fit into, Hiead thought wryly, choosing not to say anything.
"And it's a weird kind of hurt, you know?" Zero asked, turning to look at Hiead. "Like something in my heart shattered. But then I wake up, and all that remains is the pain. I can't think of anything in my life that happened like that, so it's weird."
"I suppose," Hiead said with a shrug. "But it's just a dream, right? It never actually happened, so it can't really hurt you," he lied, straight through his teeth. "Go back to sleep," he finished, lying down and getting comfortable again.
Zero nodded and lay down, staring at the ceiling.
When he still wasn't asleep, twenty minutes later, Hiead knew he was going to say something else.
"But it just feels so real. . ." he murmured, voice hazy as though he was half asleep.
"Sometimes dreams are like that." Hiead curled himself into a ball, remembering -- at least partly -- the two situations that fit Zero's dream perfectly.
"I guess. . .but all my dreams are like this. I wake up and I feel like there's something I'm forgetting. And not all the dreams hurt, either. Some leave me feeling just fine, or even happy."
"Don't know what I can tell you," Hiead said, voice muffled.
"I didn't expect you to. . .it just feels nice to talk about it to someone."
"Why don't you tell your friends about them?"
"Because they'd get unnecessarily worried about them." He chuckled lightly. "And I feel like I know you. Kind of weird isn't it?" he asked, rolling to look at Hiead, then furrowing his eyebrows at the fetal position the younger boy had rolled himself into.
Hiead laughed shortly. "Yeah, weird." He closed his eyes more tightly. "Go to bed, Zero."
Zero nodded and closed his eyes. It didn't take long this time for his breathing to even out.
*~*~*~*
Gareas and Ernest, being separated by a hallway, had a slightly more hampered conversation.
Because of Ernest's abilities as a telepath, and the close link the boys shared, they were able to communicate almost clearly. The only fluctuations were when either Carl or Will said something. Both room mates, however, fell asleep fairly quickly.
:: So how do you like this place? :: Gareas asked his shyer friend.
:: The people are nice enough. I didn't really meet anyone in my homeroom that I really clicked with, though. Tomorrow's Monday. That means we start regular classes. ::
:: Yeah. I wish we had more classes together. How'm I supposed to make sure you talk? ::
Ernest chuckled; a soothing, melodic sound over the link. :: You'll just have to trust me, won't you? ::
:: Aww. . .I trust you. I just don't trust your social skills. :: Ernest could practically feel him smirk.
:: Ha. Ha. ::
:: It's the truth, man. You're a sociopath if I've ever met one. ::
:: Well, you would be, too, if every time you touched someone their thoughts rushed into your head. ::
:: Yeah, probably. But aren't there people with natural shields? ::
:: Anyone with strong EX and an awareness of telepathy has a stronger shield than normal people. Like with you -- I can only read you if we're in direct skin-to-skin contact and I want to. ::
:: Well, you'd think there'd be quite a few people like that here. ::
:: Less than you think. That group of people we met right before lights out was extremely unique. I could only sense two of them. The two being Will and KC. Everyone else I've run into all day, minus a guy named Jason in my homeroom, I've sensed pretty strongly. ::
:: Well, hang out with the Jason guy, then. Don't torture yourself around unguarded people, :: Gareas ordered, his defense complex kicking in. If anyone was ever able to hurt Ernest and get away with it, it would be over his dead body.
:: I did. He was a really nice guy -- extremely Christian. That's rare in this day and age. Who all did you meet in your homeroom? ::
:: My homeroom was psychos anon. or something, 'cuz it was really fun. That Hiead guy was in my homeroom, too. He really is bitter, like Will said. The only things he said were with a "duh" attitude or in a snarl of some sort. Though, with what Will told us about his folks, I suppose you can't blame him. ::
:: Yeah. . . We should try to be nice to him. ::
:: Is this your abandoned kitten complex or a real feeling? :: Gareas asked with a chuckle.
:: Very funny. It's a real feeling. When I met him, it was like something was really hurting him. Because of what you call my "abandoned kitten complex," I tried to find out what. . .but. . .his natural shields are like nothing I've ever seen. They may not even be natural. The pain and bitterness that he radiated was just a part of him. Like something so horrible had happened that he couldn't let go of it. :: Ernest sighed.
:: Hey you, that tickles! :: Gareas laughed in reference to Ernest's sigh.
:: Sorry. ::
:: I was kidding, you twit. ::
:: I know. ::
:: Argh! Anyway, back to our day. I met some really fun people in advisement. Most of them were girls, too. There aren't really many girls who can keep my attention, :: he said with a slight laugh. :: There was no romantic attraction. . .but some of them were really entertaining. ::
:: What were their names? ::
:: Uhm, Shannon, Alesia, Kelsey, and Dani. There was a guy named Josh, too. He and Dani claimed to be cousins, but they didn't really look all that similar. Oh well. I'll introduce you to them if we run into each other again. ::
:: Okay. I haven't met anyone who's hated me for my telepathy yet, either. I guess Dad was right when he said I'd like it here. ::
:: That's awesome. You deserve to have everybody like you the way you are. ::
:: Sure, sure. Though I don't really want everyone to like me. I'm satisfied with having just a few good friends. ::
:: Well, yeah, but you know what I meant. ::
:: Only because I've known you so long. ::
:: Yep! :: Gareas exclaimed happily. Their conversation was interrupted when someone cleared their throat over the line.
:: Go to sleep, boys, :: Erts cut in. :: You have to be to class by eight tomorrow. Sleep. Now, :: he said before fading back out.
:: We should listen to him. Talk to you in the morning, Garu, :: Ernest said before cutting the connection.
Both boys were asleep in minutes.
*~*~*~* END CHAPTER TWO *~*~*~*
Well, there you have it. Chapter two. Which sucked. *sigh* I had to introduce everyone somehow. I did warn that the plot wouldn't be coming until chapter two or three. I guess you'll just have to wait until chapter three. Bear with me, people. At least now you'll know who's talking when they have conversations with their friends. A lot of the characters mentioned here won't show up very often -- the main characters are Garu, Ernest, Zero, and Hiead -- but it's good to know who they are.
This chapter was also written under the influence of crappy sixth-grade pop music. *sweatdrop* This chapter was also a bit shorter than its two predecessors, and had a lot more conversation. Most of the chapters will be in the range of 8-15 pages, size 8 Tahoma font. Just so you know. I don't like short chapters -- it makes the waits slightly less worth while. I try to get an entire thought done with each chapter. Post-edit comments: Blah. This chapter sucks. Please bear with me, though. I needed to introduce all the bloody side-characters that may show up later. Or at least give you an idea of what the school was like. Blah.
Anywho, reviewer comments:
Hakari03: Well, hope this is good enough!!
Shades-chan: Maa. . .your reviews make my day! Sankyuu!
Asa-chan: Thank you! There will be more Hiead/Zero, yes. If only because Hiead insists. . . .that and my yaoi-fangirlism.
Kapparan Majic: Sugar rushes = good. And sorry the beginning was confusing. *sigh* I tried to do it slowly and intricately, but I'm sure it seemed a bit WHAM in places.
Alli Hearts: Sorry. . .Hiead suffering is a major plot point, though. It was either Hiead or Ernest. Personally, Ernest is my favorite character. I couldn't do that to him!
Silvermyth: *blush* You guys know what's cool? Having one of your favorite fanfic-ers review your fic. XD Very glad you liked it! Yeah, I'm just not really a dog person. . .cats on the other hand. GIMME ALL YOUR KITTIES AND NO ONE GETS HURT! ('Cept for the occasional fic character. . .)
Malik Fan 03: SOMEONE WHO TALKS LIKE ME, YO! It hath been updated. *bows* I hope this is satisfactory. At least for the time being. There'll be more relatively soon. I'm LOVING all the reviews. Honestly. Wonders for my ego!
Teaser for Chapter Three: THE PLOT!! Classes, classes, classes. New friends, new enemies, and Hiead has issues. . .wait, that last one's in every chapter. Oops. Let's just say he has more issues than usual. Also, a couple weird flashbacks. I can't tell you who has them yet. *wink*