The School Girl Bit

Throwing open the doors into the dining room, Tomoyo instantly caught the attention as well as instantly found the first person of the morning to rant at.

"This outfit is so adorable. I have a mind to get a size for Sakura and try it on her!" she squealed.

The previous day, after she spent some time in the garden, which, even though she attempted to identify the leaves that had fallen into it, gave no clue as to the actual location of this place, she met with Mistress shortly after noon. Her class schedule, books and teachers names and genders were explained to her. She was also given that day's homework for each class so she wouldn't feel too awkward transferring midyear. She had pretty much identical classes to what she had at her old school except she had one study hall instead of P.E. for which she was devoutly grateful. She had also been handed her school uniform. At the time Tomoyo had noted that it seemed much like her previous one but those thoughts passed quickly as she tried to adjust for her schedule.

In truth it wasn't that difficult. She had been studying similar things and even had some of the same text books at her old school. The only difference was they were a bit behind her in math and they were reading Shakespeare in English instead of Austen. By the time she was done with all that it was time for her "play date" with Sakura. It took her nearly fifteen minutes to reach her room and after that they went to the room down the corridor from there to a playroom which had been left out of the tour. They played with dolls and had grown up tea and Tomoyo was not quite sure what to make of this girl who seemed like old fashioned royalty plopped down in front of her. But all in all, thoughts of school and transferring didn't bother Tomoyo in the slightest.

Until she saw herself in the mirror decked out in a white button up, black tie, navy blue sweater vest with the school emblem, a surprisingly short plaid skirt and white knee highs. Oh and black dress shoes. The sight made the headache she had woken up with worse. Of course that made her even more irritable.

Mikkoku turned to smile at the irate teen. "I think you look very well, Tomoyo." He paused to look at her a bit more closely. "Though, even I must admit you do look like you stepped out of Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou."

She blinked, not having expected him to cite a specific anime. Or Manga, she wasn't certain since she'd never got into it really. She drew a long resigned sigh, tossed her hair to the side and sat down to her usual cup of tea.

"Especially with your hair down. I never realized it was so long!" He cocked his head to one side. "In fact I think this is the first time I've seen your hair down."

After taking a nice long sip of her mint tea she nodded. "Yeah, I usually keep it up whenever I'm inside but my head hurts so having my hair up makes it ache worse. Thus it is down."

"It's truly beautiful. Such a nice shade of black. Very pure. And it goes down to, what, your hips?"

"I don't think I've ever heard someone call black 'pure' but no it goes down to a little above my mid thigh. My hair grows almost obscenely fast so if I don't bother to cut it, it grows ridiculously long before even I notice. My hair has been up a lot the past few months since it's been so hot so I didn't notice it had gotten so long."

"Hmm," Mikkoku replied looking thoughtful. Then he gave a small little smile. "Well, to complete your image if you want to put your hair up..." Knocking on the table twice and then snapping his fingers he drew from the air two long silver chop sticks. This startled Tomoyo greatly for while she was becoming quickly acquainted with magick, or at least the kind that the house used, she had never seen something like that performed so blatantly.

"U-uhm...thanks," she said taking them. When she felt their coolness she inspected them closer. "Mikkoku! These are metal! These are weapons!"

He smiled with the most childlike glee. "Consider it a gift for your first day of school. If you meet someone you don't like, or who doesn't like you."

She couldn't help but laugh. "You are positively evil." And while Mikkoku was trying to figure out if that was an oxymoron or a compliment, she looked at the watch she had suspended from a bracelet on her watch. "I need to go or I'll be late with the meeting with the principal." She quickly finished her tea and grabbed her book bag, which looked more like a messenger back than anything else. "By the way, Mikkoku, what school do you go to? The same one as Sakura does? You were definitely gone yesterday."

The smile he gave her seemed to be enigmatic but Tomoyo just put it down to being mentally hassled. "No, I go to a different school."

She shrugged. "Alright. I'll see you later!" she called as she ran out the door. She made her way quickly through the various halls and passageways that led the front door. When she got there she found Mistress waiting with a long dark coat in her hands that must surely go down to the floor when worn. It looked exceedingly warm and she was very grateful for it.

"Now Tomoyo. It may seem disconcerting at first but you will not be going by car or walk to school. Instead you will be transported by magic a block away from school, in a nice prefixed area that won't be of note if you appear suddenly."

This made Tomoyo extremely nervous but she merely said, "Yes, Mistress. Is there anything I must do? And how will I be getting home?"

"No, you just need to stand there. And you see this silver pin in the shape of the moon? When you need to come home you must press it between your thumb and forefinger for five seconds then say, "Home," and it should do the work for you. Any other questions?"

"No, ma'am," she said as she put on the nice coat, pulling her long hair out from the collar. "I'm all set."

"Good girl. I'll see you when you get home. Try to get along with everyone, dear. I'm sure you will have a nice enough time since it's you."

And while anyone else in the world could take that sentence to imply that Tomoyo's dramatic beauty would surely get at least a few people to like her, this sentence threw her into confusion, because for all that Tomoyo was smart and very intuitive, she never thought of herself as anything but passively pretty. But it didn't last long as she quickly was introduced to the first bit of magick done directly on her. The world around her blurred and suddenly got freezing cold as it solidified into a very blustery alleyway. Stepping out of the alleyway she looked both ways to get a grasp of which way the school was and quickly saw the lengthy stone and rod iron fence that surrounded it. Readjusting her bag and brushing her hair from her face, very tempted to pull out those chopsticks she had stuffed in her bag, Tomoyo confidently set down the sidewalk to what she hoped would be a good day of school, a place she had always been able to find a bit of sanctuary. Yes, she would make today a good day. If it killed her.

"So, what all did Mrs. Mei Lin tell you about our school, Madison-san?" the fair haired and quite handsome principal asked her. She gauged him to be in his thirties and obviously quite taken with Mistress.

"She just told me the name of the school, the names of my teachers and the classes I was taking. Oh and, of course, that it was a private co-ed school."

"Ah. Well, there are only a few things I need to tell you, vital though they may be. The first is the most unusual. In this school, rather than students changing classes, and causing unnecessary noisy traffic in the hallways, the teachers are the ones who change rooms. Each teacher has a separate office of their own on one of the three floors where they hold private discussions with their students. As such you will have the same class mates for almost all of your classes, which most people don't object to too much since it is a relatively small school and you still get to associate with the other students through clubs and lunch time.

"Lunch is served through two different lines and the students are released by class, by grade so there isn't too big of a line. I think that's all...Oh! I nearly forgot. While the teachers change you will have one homeroom teacher who comes to you at the beginning of the day, right before lunch and before any free periods, as well as any class they may teach. Did you get all that or did I go to fast for you, miss?"

She smiled politely, "I got it all Mr. Erisson. I think I will like it very well here." With that she rose and got her bag. "Oh, I'm sorry, but what class are we in now?"

"Let me think, oh yes, since we have a school activities meeting this morning we are still in homeroom. There is a school activities meeting once every other week and it is the first forty-five minutes of the day. It takes over the hassles of assemblies and daily announcements."

"Thank you, sir. I'll head to class now." With a smile, Tomoyo exited the office as politely as she had entered it.

"What a nice girl."

After a moment or two of wandering the hallways, Tomoyo found her glass at the end of the second story corridor. She politely knocked on the door before entering.

"-and right on time! Class I'd like you to meet the new exchange student."

Walking to stand beside the teacher's desk, Tomoyo stood facing the class with a kindly smile on her face, her long jacket folded over her bag. And, again, being an oblivious girl, she didn't quite register the look of appreciation that the guys of the room got as they noticed her long shapely legs and curvaceous figure or the admiring looks that the girls gave her pretty face and gorgeous long hair. No, instead she noticed the fact that no one was frowning at her or looking overly bored.

"This is Tomoyo Rosenberg who just transferred today. Unless I'm mistaken, which I'm not," the teacher commented as he looked over the lists, "she stays in this room all day. Which I'm sure pleases a few of you. Madison-san would you like to tell us something about yourself?"

She smiled nervously. "Um, I just came here from Colorado two days ago. Uh, I live at a boarding house with two other boarders and have a pet cat named Spinel Sun." She ended the speech with a calm, sweet smile all the while feeling ridiculous about not being able to say much without coming across phrases like "run away" or "magick".

"Alright, does anyone have any questions for her?"

Hands rose all over the class room.

"Miss Hainley?"

"So you are living away from your parents? Don't they mind?"

Tomoyo momentarily considered the fact that none of her relatives, blood or legally related, knew her whereabouts before saying, "They haven't objected so far."

"Mr. Taylor?"

"Why Spinel Sun?"

"I actually didn't name her. The Mistress of the Boarding House did and I assume it's because she is all black."

"And...Mr. Verris?"

"Um, yeah, do you have a boyfriend, or did you leave him in Colorado, or what?"

"I don't have a boyfriend, here or back home," she answered blushing almost scarlet.

"That's enough of that," the teacher said sternly. "Now, Madison-san, if you will kindly sit...well, behind Mr. Verris seems to be the only open seat. I think I made his day."

Smiling calmly to hide her, embarrassment she made her way to what was almost the middle of the room and sat behind the very cute brunette boy who had asked her the flattering question.

"Hey," he said, attempting to be nonchalant.

"Hi," came out in little more than a whisper.

As she put her bag down and pulled out a note book to take notes of the activities she glanced around the room and saw all the welcoming smiles. She felt better about the school already. She selected a pen and sat back in her chair to take notes.

Almost immediately she dropped it again. She had finally gotten a good look at her new homeroom teacher, having been too nervous earlier to look over at him. He was absolutely drop dead gorgeous. The man couldn't be more than 24, 25 tops. His hair seemed made of long black silk and pulled into a long sleek ponytail that trailed down his back. He had an attractive angular face and behind a pair of glasses she could see storm grey eyes that sent shivers down her spine with their intensity.

Or perhaps because they were staring so intensely into hers.

Tomoyo managed to survive her first day at her new school. She would never know that it was the calm demeanor she kept dragging up to make herself feel less nervous that got everyone's attention. The new girl was not only beautiful but she was smart and she acted so mature. Girls kept talking about how nice she was and the guys commented on everything from "that sweet smile" to other body parts somewhat farther down. However when the bell rang to signify that her free period had started and many of the other students left the room to go to the library or the gym or various other activities that they were allowed, she merely stood and went to the second story windows. The blustery day had turned into a downpour sometime around second period and hadn't stopped since. The sky was as dark as if it were night. IT was a disappointment for many since they were allowed to eat outside or on the roof if they wanted to and instead they were forced into the smallish cafeteria.

Tomoyo didn't mind really, though. Somehow the dark atmosphere fit the new life she was building. She now lived in a house that was black and white, with black wining, where there was magick, but more mystery. Everything seemed dark even if they weren't uncomfortable. She was content with the darkness as she was with the storm. But she had never been afraid of shadows even as a girl. She was always retreating into them. So on the first day of school, instead of making friends or doing homework early, Tomoyo just stood watching the rain with a sort of numbness in her mind.

After awhile, however, she felt like she was being watched. At first she ignored it but after a good ten minutes of the feeling she realized that she wasn't just being paranoid. Casually she turned around and leaned against the windows, her hands on the long wooden frame. Calmly she looked over the room, wondering who would be looking at her with enough intensity that she would notice. And it didn't take long to find out. Because her homeroom teacher was back along with his piercing stare. She met his eyes for almost a full minute before turning back to watch the storm. There was something about his eyes that was rather disconcerting. There wasn't malice but it wasn't just curiosity either. He was feeling something pretty intense when he looked at her and she wasn't quite sure she wanted to know what that was.

When the bell rang found out that he was also her English teacher, and a pretty good one actually, but she couldn't help but long for the class period to fly by quickly.

After school she set about visiting her various teachers in their offices. She was doing half today, the other half tomorrow. Not feeling particularly brave she put him off to the second day. She had nice pleasant conversations with the rest of her teachers and had gotten up to speed on everything else she needed to know in those classes by 4pm. When she finally made her way to the front entrance she moaned audibly. The rain was coming down even harder than it had been a couple hours earlier and she didn't think that her coat was going to be sufficient protection. Really she didn't have too far to walk but it did equate to a couple of blocks from the alleyway to the front door. Sighing she was pushing the door open when someone held out a black umbrella in front of her. Without thinking she took it and began to open the door again. Then she paused, shook her head and looked to see who had given it to her.

Of course, it was him. He was already walking away and looked back at her with an amused smile.

"Thank you," she called after him softly.

He just raised a hand and kept on walking.

Feeling slightly disconcerted, Tomoyo stepped outside and unfurled the umbrella, truly grateful. Especially so once she stepped out into the icy waters. The sidewalks were full of puddles and she couldn't avoid getting her legs wet. Finally she gave up and just started to run. Unfortunately this turned out to be a very bad idea when not a meter from the alleyway she tripped and fell into a large puddle, soaking herself almost completely through. Sighing she picked up the umbrella, not bothering to put it over her head anymore and stepped down the alleyway.

"Home."

She watched as the already grey world dissolved around her and the front porch solidified in its place. She closed her umbrella and was about to open the door when Mikkoku did it for her. He took one look at her and bit back a laugh. He must have felt her murderous rage because he instantly apologized holding his hands up.

"I'm sorry Tomoyo; it's just that you look so forlorn. That and this is almost exactly how you looked when you first showed up. But come on." He took her coat and umbrella from her, putting them both in their respective places. "And I fear that this is exactly what whoever gave you this umbrella was trying to avoid."

She groaned. "Oh, don't mention him."

"Him?" Mikkoku sounded curious. "First day and you already got a boyfriend. Way to go Tomoyo. Hey that rhymes," he added as a side note.

Tomoyo looked at her young friend. He had obviously had a good day and she was pleased for him. He had been generally somber in the past couple days and seeing him in such a good mood relieved her. "Not a boyfriend-" she paused to sneeze, "-a teacher."

"Even better," he laughed mischievously. "Older men, eh?"

She tried to hit him but he ducked. That and she wasn't really in a fighting mood. Rather Mikkoku was becoming like a little brother. The teasing wasn't making her angry but rather cheering her up. This was kind of new to her and she liked it.

"Brat," she sniffed.

"Of course. Now, why don't you change and shower and I'll bring some tea up to you?"

"Ha. You'll probably be done with the tea by the time I get to my room. But I'll still accept your offer." She sneezed again. "God, if I get a cold for my first week at a new school I think I'll have to break something."

"Don't worry; you'll be all better by tomorrow. That is if you don't get tired and die of exhaustion before you get to your room." And saying such he walked off towards the dining room where she assumed the kitchens were as well. Picking up her bag again she made her way towards her room.

Nearly an hour later when she was drying her hair by sitting with her back to the fire place and looking over the day's homework, she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in!" she called not looking up from the math problem. It didn't click until she heard the clink of metal on metal that she realized that it would be Mikkoku with tea and his hands were probably full. She quickly got up to help him only to find that it wasn't necessary. The tea tray was floating in front of him as he turned the door knob. Quickly he grabbed it and stared at him in amazement. "You could have just asked for help!"

He smiled and closed the door most of the way. Taking the tray back he walked back to where she had been sitting on the carpet. He looked around for a moment then shrugged. Letting go of the tray he watched as it slowly floated to the ground. "No need for that." He turned and looked back at her amazed expression. He held back his laughter and motioned for her to come back and sit. "Come on!"

She sat back down in front of her math book and watched in amazed silence as he put sugar in her tea, stirred it and handed it to her before putting cream and sugar in his own.

"You use magick so casually, Mikkoku. And I imagine what you do isn't exactly beginners stuff."

"No, not exactly. But then it isn't far from it. And don't use magick as casually as you think I do. What you see just isn't really magick."

"I beg to differ."

He sipped his tea before answering. "Well it is but it's not anything that you need to worry about. Floating a tea tray is not going to make the world slip off balance."

"What about those chopsticks you made earlier?" she asked over her tea cup. She hadn't sipped any but was just basking in the steam.

"Oh, I didn't make them. Contrary to what people believe you can't just make something from nothing. Well you can but it takes a VERY long time. But those I had in my room. I just transported them which is again not earth shattering."

"Oh." She shrugged and took a sip.

"It's something that you will be doing quickly enough," Mikkoku said very casually.

Tomoyo resisted the urge to spit out her tea. She swallowed hard then asked rather harshly, "What?"

"Didn't Mistress say that you would be learning magick?"

"Yeah, but later she also said that I didn't HAVE any. So I figured she was just doing that as a precursor type thing."

For the first time Mikkoku looked at her as if she had said something truly surprising. "You have magick. Where did you get the impression you didn't?"

Tomoyo just kind of stared. "I don't know. From Mistress and the fact that I've never used any till now?"

"Tomoyo, if you didn't have magick you wouldn't have been able to do that transportation spell."

"What transportation spell?"

"How you got home, dimwit."

"Oh. I forgot about that. Kinda cold." As if on cue, she sneezed again.

He laughed. "Anyway, you have magick. I'm not certain but I don't think that anyone who DOESN'T have magick can even SEE the boarding house. Well maybe if they were with someone who could, but..." He let his sentence trail off with a shrug. "But no we'll wait a bit for you to get adjusted to the house then you'll start learning.

"Adjusted huh? How bout we wait till, Thanksgiving break?" Then after a moment. "We are still in the U.S. right? I didn't ask but..."

"As I said, where we are is hardly relative. But you do go to school in the U.S. so I think you'll still have a Thanksgiving Day holiday."

"Good. We'll start then."

"Sorry. Can't."

Tomoyo was beginning to get the urge to smack him and that silly grin of his. "Why not?"

"You have to be semi-proficient before Halloween. Or you can't go to the ball."

"Oh alright. But it's only the first week of October so give me at least a couple weeks."

"Done."

She finished her tea. "And why am I even arguing this with you? Won't Mistress be teaching me?"

"Probably not. Most likely I will."

"Why?"

"Because I'm the one who is most proficient in it."

"But you are so young! How can you be better at it than her?" When Mikkoku didn't answer, Tomoyo looked at him even more closely. "I keep getting the feeling that none of you are telling me everything. But I guess I'll just have to wait."

"Precisely." He looked at her homework. "Math?"

"Yep."

"Need any help?"

"No. I was actually one of those child genius people. Mom just didn't want me to be educated like one so I was sentenced to suffer through twelve years of regular schooling. Lucky me right?"

"It's all a matter of opinion. But at least we don't need to worry that you'll need to worry more about your school work than the magick lessons."

"Says who?" she stuck her tongue out at him.

He began to put the tea tray back together. When he was almost finished he paused to ask her a question. "The teacher who gave you the umbrella...did you dislike him or something?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because you were groaning about him."

She shrugged. "I don't DISlike him, but there is something about him that isn't very comfortable."

"What's his name?"

"No clue."

Mikkoku laughed. "How did you manage that one?"

"Simple. I never asked who my homeroom teacher was but it was obviously implied that I had and they never called him by name in class."

"You are amazing, Tomoyo. Now get some rest so you don't catch cold." At the door he turned back, "Do you want dinner sent up to you?"

"I think I can make it. But if I don't show up you'll know that the wicked rain has got me."

She watched him in fascination as the tea tray floated in front of him before she went back to her work.

Nervously she knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Slowly, grasping the black umbrella in her hands, Tomoyo opened the door and came into the small office. It was a nice room actually but she wished she didn't have to be there. Because there she met the familiar pair of storm grey eyes behind a pair of glasses.

"Ah, Madison-san, I was expecting you."

She extended the umbrella to him. "Thank you again for letting me borrow this. I brought my own today." Glancing out the window at the torrential rain she was heartily grateful.

"You are welcome. Have a seat."

She sat down, hoping against hope that she looked calm rather than nervous. However, she pointedly kept her eyes on his desk rather than him.

"Now, Madison-san, I gathered from the other faculty members that you have been having interviews to get to know your teachers and to catch up on lessons up till now, am I correct?"

"Yes sir."

"Well, I'm assuming that since you have done the reading you are really just looking to see what other books we have read? That and perhaps you want to know what my name is?"

She looked up at him quickly. Too quickly because it gave her away.

He was smiling at her. "Irian Matthews. And here is a list of the books." He handed her a piece of paper. Meekly she accepted it, feeling very embarrassed that he knew. "I assume that is all?"

"That's all really, Hiiragizawa-sensei." She smiled at him. "I want to get home before the rain gets any worse. Else I would stay longer. I'm sorry if you find it rude."

"No, its fine, Madison-san."

As she turned to the door she felt his eyes upon her still. The eyes that had bored into her all day and throughout the whole interview. When she got to the door she turned and looked at him.

"Something else?" he asked calmly.

Tomoyo opened her mouth to say something then stopped herself. She opened the door instead then stopped and looked at him again.

"Hiiragizawa-sensei...why do you keep staring at me?"

"Are you sure that's what I'm doing?"

"Please don't play with me, Hiiragizawa-sensei. I'm being serious."

He laughed a very nice laugh really. "All right. Because, Madison-san, I think I can expect great things from you."

She looked at him. "You're lying," she said before she turned and walked through the door. As she walked down the hallway she heard his soft chuckle follow her through the door.

"You know, Mikkoku, you are always home before I am, why is that? You get out of school earlier?"

Tomoyo was sitting on the carpet in front of the fireplace again where she and Mikkoku had set up a routine to have tea everyday after she got home from school and changed. Occasionally she would do homework while she they talked but in general he liked to show her a lot of the "smaller magicks" that he would soon be teaching her. He often would slip into the conversation bits on what magick really was, precursors to the actual lessons she knew, but she didn't mind. This was the fourth day that they had had this little chat and she had been at the Boarding House for almost a complete week, a fact which was a bit surprising since it felt like longer.

"Well, one should think it was obvious that I get home much earlier than you, so the answer is obviously yes."

She rolled her eyes. "You could have just said yes to begin with. What time do you get off?"

"2:30, unless I stay after to do additional works, which I do occasionally, but pretty much no matter what I'm home by 3 o'clock."

"That's unfair! You get out a full thirty minutes before me."

"Well, at my age they like you more."

"And when do you do your homework? I'm sure you are bound to have some, actually more than some since you are obviously a child genius and must go to one of those schools."

"I'm flattered. Yes, I have quite a bit of work but I do most of it at school or before you get home."

"Oh," she said as she bit into a cookie. Cookies and tea, a childish sort of delight. "But I guess its okay. Since you are always home before me that means we don't have to put off our tea time. If it had to be too much later we would be right on top of dinner and I'm sure Mistress would string us up if that happened."

"Most definitely." He looked at her homework. "Speaking of which, you getting along well enough at school?"

"Yeah, I like all my teachers. I made friends with a girl named Cathy and her friend Jenny. Some of the guys talk to me but they really don't say much. Don't know why."

"What about that one teacher you mentioned earlier?"

"Hiiragizawa-sensei? Oh I guess he's alright. Kinda creeps me out sometimes but he's a descent enough teacher."

Mikkoku laughed. "Ah well, everyone needs at least one creepy teacher right. Just make sure he doesn't turn out to be some sort of alien from Saturn or something."

She threw a cookie at him. "Dorkus."

"Oh that's saying a lot coming from you."

When Tomoyo woke up at six Monday morning, the designated time for weekdays, she couldn't shake off the idea that something of import was going to happen. She expressed this to Mistress and Mikkoku when she had breakfast with them before school.

"Something important?" Mistress asked. "Well, that just depends on your definition of important. No matter what something important could be considered to happen everyday."

"I think she's trying to say you are delusional, Tomoyo."

"Thanks, so much Mikkoku for your commentary."

"Really, Mikkoku, I was saying no such thing. It's too early in the morning to have a sense of humour."

"For you perhaps. By the way, your hair looks nice today, Tomoyo."

"You are just saying that because you gave these to me," she said referring to the silver chopsticks she had decided to wear that day. It was the first time she'd have worn something like that and she thought they were kind of nice, if a bit time consuming to get so much hair up with them.

"No, really, Tomoyo. I think I have to agree with him. They look rather lovely."

"Thank you, Mistress," Tomoyo said glancing down at her watch pendant. "I need to go. I have to deliver something to the main office before school."

"The rest of your registration packet?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Off with you."

"And try not to kill anyone, huh Tomoyo?" Mikkoku called after her with a laugh.

"It seems that the main office finds the empty desks in our room an eye sore. Or at least that is the impression I got when I heard this morning that we would be gaining another transfer student. Madison-san, I think you started a trend."

The rest of the class chuckled as Hiiragizawa-sensei wagged his finger at the young girl who merely smiled politely. Just a moment later there was a knock at the door and a boy came in and stood next to the desk facing the rest of the class. Hiiragizawa-sensei, who had been a teacher for many a year, tried desperately to hold back his laughter as he saw the damage that this did to the general demeanor of the class. That is until the raven haired beauty he had just been talking to dropped her pen and joined her fellow female classmates in a slack jawed look of female adoration.

"This is Syaoran Mikkokuson. He transferred here today, obviously, and like our last student, is also to remain here the full day. Care to add to that, Mr. Mikkokuson?"

Syaoran gave a knowing smile before he began to speak. He knew full well the affect he had on women, what with his well toned body, fierce blue eyes and long blonde hair that just happened to fall over his face so often. And the fact that the boy's uniform was black slacks, a white button up and blue tie that went with the blue jacket he had draped over one arm which looked so good on him, well, he was already enjoying this school.

"Well, I just moved here from Barcelona, Spain, where I've lived the past two years. I fence and play soccer. Oh, and I don't have a girlfriend at present."

At this last bit of information half the girls in the class sat up slightly straighter. The rest were obviously either taken or too dazed to do much. All except for a girl with lustrous black hair who was looking back and forth between him and the teacher as he spoke.

"With that said I think I'll skip the normal questions and just let you take your seat. The one behind Miss Hainsley will do. I know she has a boyfriend so don't flirt with her too much, Mr. Mikkokuson."

Cathy Hainsley, although it was very well known that she was dating in a long distance relationship, felt very aware of the fact that she might be tempted to wander towards a more physical relationship. As such she frequently looked a bit nervous whenever someone very attractive came by, afraid that she might be disloyal. She was, at this point, so nervous that she was looking around in desperation as to what to do. Syaoran noticed that she caught the eye of the girl directly beside her who winked. Then the girl looked up at him with the same considering eyes that she had shone a few minutes earlier when she alone had picked up on the odd tone the teacher had used a few moments earlier.

He looked back at her with unhidden interest. She seemed to melt under his gaze but merely smiled politely. She wasn't oblivious to him, but it was obvious that she wasn't going to be won over so quickly. He didn't mind. He liked to fight for the girls he liked and this raven haired beauty seemed to be the kind of person he would really liked. She was beautiful and obviously smart.

However, he couldn't have been sure that this girl was the one he had come to meet until he sat down and looked at Hiiragizawa-sensei who was watching him carefully. There was a very distinct message in his eyes that Syaoran heard loud and clear, even if it was only given to him for the briefest of seconds. After that barest of instants the teacher turned his gaze and by happenstance met the eyes of the beauty. She seemed very startled for a moment and stared back but quickly looked down and pretended to write.

Yes, Syaoran imagined that such a look would be very startling for a girl like that. And chances are she had no clue what it meant, for all that she was so obviously a smart girl.