So far, the chapters seem to have a pattern of short then long. That'll change when I hit a writer's block ^^; but until then enjoy each second chapter long while it lasts!

Thanks for reviewing also! Rinoa, would you believe it but I don't hate Kasumi! O.O Just… I like Ayane better and writing with Ayane means I have to delve into Kasumi-bashing… ^^;

I can't wait for Ninja Gaiden either! Even though Hayabusa is going to be one dead ninja when I start playing it... *sheepish grin*

Speaking of Hayabusa, he enters this chapter. Woo hoo! (Finally!) Expect there to be a lot of making past histories with all of them, which involves lots of talking, but… eh.

Anyway, now that this chapter has turned into a chat session… hope you enjoy as always!

~*~

"Could you tell me where room 507 is?" she asked the receptionist at the office. Back at her school, if anyone had asked they would have been dismissed with a 'what do I look like, a map?' but this was a snobby private school, so what did you expect? The receptionist smiled, and came out from behind the desk, map in hand. "Here, use this until you get better acquainted with the school grounds. I'll show you where room 507 is, if you like. It's in the big building over there, second level, first on your right,"

She followed the finger and saw a large grey building. "Thanks, but I don't like," she said before anything else could be said or done, and walked out of the office. She didn't need to be walked to class like an infant. She walked across the grounds (which were of course, snobbishly perfect) until she reached the aforementioned grey building, and the stairs to the second level. There, there were several sets of doors. The first on the right, yeah? She seized the doorknob and pushed the door hard enough for it to bang against the classroom wall. Nice to be noticed, she thought dryly as she saw about fifteen pairs of eyes fixated on her. The teacher turned from the board to her.

"Miss Ayane. Nice to meet you. It would be even nicer if you tidied up your uniform. Regardless of the standards of your other school, we have rules which have to be adhered to, and a neat and tidy uniform is one of them,"

Scowling, she tightened her tie slightly, pulled up her socks and tucked in her shirt as best as she could with her other hand holding her book bag, stopping it from falling off her shoulder.

"Happy now?" she asked the teacher. Fairly young and male, he looked impeccably geeky, thick-lens glasses and a pathetic excuse for a moustache only accentuating his geekiness. But then again, what was to be expected from a geek school? She thought to herself.

"Very good, Miss Ayane. Please, take a seat. There is a seat next to Mr Hayate in the back row," The geek teacher adjusted his glasses, and pointed to the table. There was her half-brother, shaking his head at her. She rushed down the aisle, and sat next to him. Glancing around the room, she noticed to her surprise that some people were shooting her dirty looks. Has Kasumi already messed up my rep here? I wouldn't put it past her. Stupid slut.

Making the other peoples' dirty looks to her seem immaculately clean, she rifled through her book-bag for a writing book and pen. She eventually found it, right underneath everything, just as the geek was telling them to 'take useful notes on chapters ten and eleven.'

"What book is he talking about?" she whispered to Hayate.

"Frankenstein," he whispered back. "It's some sort of a book about a guy who creates a monster, assuming that you haven't read it," she was just about to tell him that he had assumed correctly, when a geeky voice interrupted them.

"Excuse me, Mr Hayate?" The geek's voice was clearly attempting sarcasm, but because of his sheer geekiness it was simply a different tone. "What is so important that you insist on making unnecessary conversation with Miss Ayane?"

"Pardon, sir, I was merely getting her up to speed with the class-work and where we are," he said politely. She couldn't help glancing around the room triumphantly, and to her surprise noticed several girls shooting her brother dreamy, girlie looks. Looks that could only mean one thing.

Hayate is one of the heart-throbs of the upper school? She thought, astonished. Although he was in year twelve, apparently the snob school liked mixing them up between year eleven and twelve. Not that she minded. Having Hayate in her class would make a previously horrible class more bearable.

With a flick of his hand, the geek dismissed Hayate, who turned back to her. "It isn't that hard. If you need a hand, just tell me,"

She did need a hand on more then one occasion, but couldn't gather up the humbleness to say so. In the end, she only managed to complete a quarter of the first sheet out of two assigned to them. Hayate, the smart little bastard managed to complete them both.

Before either of them could say anything, the bell rang for morning recess. "Come on," Hayate chided gently. "I'll show you around. Got nothing else to do,"

"Nothing like… flirting with those girls, perhaps?" she asked bluntly, pointing to the giggling 'fan-club' congregating around her brother. She counted them. Seven. That means I have seven new enemies, judging by the looks they're shooting me. Woo hoo.

"What?" he turned around briefly, before turning back quickly. "Oh, them. They're quite annoying, actually. Anyway, let's go before they catch me,"

"Hang on," she stopped him. "Can I dump my books anywhere?"

"Oh, they haven't assigned you a locker yet?" he asked. She shook her head. "No matter. Use mine. Somehow I ended up getting two of them, so just take the spare. It's down here,"

She followed him to the locker area, to a locker in the far corner. "Code's 5-9-27. Don't worry, nobody else knows it,"

Unlocking the locker, she threw her books in, grateful to be rid of them for the time being, at least. She pulled out her purse from the now nearly empty book bag and turned back to him.

"Where can I buy something to eat? I'm starving,"

Before he could say anything, he was interrupted by another group of giggling girls. This time, however, they seemed to be heading towards the advanced maths room.

She blinked. "Looks like your fan-club just died,"

He shook his head and smiled. "Hardly. There's more guys then just me in this school, you know. Watch,"

She did so. Soon enough, the giggling fan-club parted as a handsome young man gently persuaded them to move, stepping through them. Listening carefully, she could just make out the conversation of the airhead girls about the young man in question.

"He's so cute! Such a gentleman!" one of them was saying. Peering closer, she recognised her as the blonde she had seen earlier, and called her a sadistic whore, from memory. Another of the girls next to her giggled childishly.

"Gentleman? He can be my gentleman any old tick of the clock,"

The young man in question even had the decorum to blush at the girl's statement, finally making his way through them. To her surprise, the next thing she knew he was standing in front of them. She looked up at him. Auburn hair streaked with gold was tied loosely in a ponytail that hung down his back, giving him a mature appearance yet youthful innocence. Emerald green orbs eyed her thoughtfully. "And who would this young lady be, Hayate?"

"This? 'This' is my half-sister, Ayane, who has just moved here from another school. Ayane, meet my best friend, Ryu Hayabusa. I find it hard to believe that you've never met each other, actually, considering that you and I have known each other for years," Hayate shrugged. "Suppose she was out getting drunk, or-"

"Shut up, Hayate!" A lash on his cheek shut him up. Her angry tirade was broken by a soft, gentle sounding voice.

"Pleased to meet you, Ayane," Unlike the other people she had met for the first time, there was no sign of hostility. He held out a hand, and surprised, she shook it. He bowed his head respectfully to her, a brief incline, but that simple action made her think that perhaps those airheads actually weren't joking when they were calling him a gentleman.

"Nice meeting you too," She managed to get out. Their eyes left each other, and she reached down to pull her shirt out from the (fashionably short) skirt. It was annoying, looking so neat and tidy. It was almost as soon as she had done so that she heard the voice of somebody who she hadn't wanted to hear for a while.

"Miss Ayane, what did I tell you about looking neat and tidy?" The geek reprimanded her, before turning away to annoy somebody else. "Miss Helena, what did I say about hair? Hair below shoulder length must be tied back. And you, sir, why is your hair looking so long and untidy? What did I say about it? The hair of the gentlemen must be no longer then…"

She tuned the geek's voice out, and turned to Hayabusa. "Doesn't your hair count as long and untidy?" she asked. He shook his head, an amused expression in his eyes, but his face remaining perfectly neutral.

"Long, but not untidy so far. Being a prefect does have its advantages at times,"

"Yeah," Hayate chimed in. "No heads at this school, just 'prefects'. Not as good as he makes it out to be, though. Got to get good marks, be a role model, not fun, especially when it means I can't just tell that little fan-club of mine to get lost,"

"Why doesn't it surprise me that you're a prefect?" she said, rolling her eyes. Then a thought struck her. "Kasumi's a prefect too, isn't she?" It stung her tongue just saying that wretched name. She didn't even need the slight nod to know that she was right.

"Usually only the year twelves get it, but sometimes the year elevens do too, if they're…" he made quotation marks with his fingers, "extra perfect. She'll probably be one next year, too. And…" he turned to Hayabusa. "If I remember correctly, she wasn't the only one who got the position two years in a row?"

The young man shrugged. "More of luck then good management, I assure you. Not that I really got a great deal of input into the situation, however,"

"Let's get out of here," Hayate muttered as more giggling girls came into the locker room, he gesturing to both her and Hayabusa. He led them both to a large, sheltering tree at the back of the school, where it was deserted except for a few year sevens cartwheeling happily on the grass across the way.

"If you don't mind my asking…" Hayabusa's soft voice broke the silence that had fallen between the three. "What made you change to this school? From what Hayate has told me, I wouldn't have thought that you would have come voluntarily,"

"He told you all good, I hope?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at her half-brother.

"Of course," Again, there was that look of amusement in the eyes which didn't quite make it to his face. "Besides, even if there was bad I would prefer not hearing about it. It could spoil the illusion of the person that you seem to be so far,"

He is a flatterer. Not in the sucky Kasumi way either, but just a really genuine kind of guy. Total opposite to the guys at my 'old' school… they'd just try to get in your pants then go.

"My father made me. Well, not really my father. Step father. He said something along the lines of 'you should have got a better education years ago,' and sent me here. Snob school. With the stupidest, airheady bunch of girls I have ever had the misfortune of meeting,"

"You get used to them after a while," Hayate said flatly. She shook her head.

"Never. At my old school, they were normal, mostly. These girls fall under three categories. Sucky, slutty, and bitchy. Lucky me, I seem to have been introduced to all three groups so far today, and it isn't even halfway through the day yet," she sighed.

"What was considered normal there?" Hayate asked, sounding amused. "Stoned, or otherwise out of it? Or psychopaths? Or just plain old no-hopers?"

"Shut up, Hayate," Even as nice as it was to find a nice familiar face, he could push it too far sometimes. "Says you, coming from a sheltered snob school,"

"Says you, who also now goes to the same sheltered snob school as I do," Hayate shot back, a smirk on his face. "One point to me,"

Before she could think of a suitable reply which somehow involved embarrassing her brother, Hayabusa suddenly stood up, looking at his watch. "I must go,"

"Why? Bell doesn't go until half-past," Hayate protested mildly. Hayabusa shook his head, rolling his eyes. Or it would have been on anybody else. Somehow, he made even rolling his eyes look distinguished.

"Counsellor. No, I don't know why, and no, Hayate, I am not going crazy, before you ask. Ayane, what classes do you have next?"

She glanced at her trusty timetable. "Um, math and drama,"

He nodded. "I'll see you both in math, then. Farewell," before she could blink, he had gone. Almost as though he had vanished into thin air or something.

She was the first to speak. "He's… formal,"

Hayate nodded. "Uh huh. Strict as hell parents. Or parent. Father. Trust, huh?" he stood up as well. "Back's getting sore," he explained. "Formalities aside, you like him?"

"He's nice from what I've seen, which isn't a lot, though," she responded. Then thought of something else. "Didn't he have math before, when he got molested by that mob of airheads?"

Hayate shrugged again. "Yeah. He does two of them. Stupid idiot. So you like him, huh?" The evil glint that she had seen so many times as a child was back in her brother's eye. "I could set you two up, if you wanted me to…"

"Looking like that, doesn't he have a girlfriend or something?"

Yes, that evil glint seemed to accentuate further with her words. "You think he's hot, huh? He used to have someone, but…" he suddenly broke off abruptly, looking decidedly uncomfortable. "Uh… class!" he added hastily as, as if on cue, the bell rang.

"But what?" she persisted. He held up his hands.

"But just forget it, Ayane. Come on, let's go. In math, you do not want to be stuck up the front of the room,"

She could barely believe her eyes as she stepped in the room. "We have the geek again? Is he the only damn teacher at this stupid school?"

Hayate laughed out loud, something she heard rarely and treasured it when she did. "The geek? Nice name. He teaches both this level maths and English lit. Seems a weird mix, huh? Let's go down the back,"

He seemed to basically ignore everyone aside from her as he walked down to the back of the room, despite a number of people greeting him, both male and female. She sat at the seat closest to the wall, his seat directly next to hers.

"Okay, I'll call the roll before we start…" the geek started, and she rolled her eyes. There were only about ten people in this class, which surprised her, considering it was math, but then again… perhaps they were just smart and stopped doing math.

"Miss Helena?"

The girl from before that had to tie her hair back. Her blonde locks were now tied up in a long ponytail, as she raised her hand wordlessly.

"Mr Leon?" Another hand.

And so the roll-calling went on, each student raising his or her hand wordlessly when their name was called. Until…

"Is Mr Hayabusa not here?" the geek asked, tapping his roll with his pencil.

"He'll be back," Hayate said simply, without, she noticed, actually saying where he was.

Was he really off to have a ciggy? Nah, he doesn't look the type… wonder why he has to go to the counsellor? He doesn't seem that sort of type, either… but then again, back at my school, the only ones that went to the counsellor were the constantly-suicidal types. Here, they probably get sent along if they get below a B+ or something.

"Miss Ayane?"

"Here," she responded, ignoring the frown her action gave her. The geek sighed, putting his roll and pencil down onto the desk in front of him.

"As much as it may be difficult to adjust, Miss Ayane, I would appreciate it if you could tidy up your uniform. New or not, you are still a member of our school…" here the geek paused for a spectacle rub. "…and the least you could do is act like it. Please tidy up your uniform,"

Scowling at him, she tucked in her shirt again, hitching it up noticeably in the process. Now for that, he can have a nice view of my undies! She thought to herself, sitting down. The skirt, or more a miniskirt by this stage, barely covered her backside. That's more like it.

*

Hmm… Hayabusa can be my gentleman too! ^^

Err… yeah.

Until next time!