Okay. This is and Alternate Universe fic. There will be OOCness as I see fit. Thank you for your time. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Disclaimer: DUH.

Chapter one: Meeting number one

Two teenagers walked down the sidewalk, hands clutching nervously at the straps of their backpacks as they turned onto the cement path that led to the front door of Azumano High school. One of the boys, the one with long blond hair, slowed down before stopping completely at the bottom of the steps leading to the entrance. The other started up, but paused when he realized he was alone. Turning around, he pushed his sky blue bangs out of matching eyes and said something to the blond. When the other boy shook his head, he reached down and snagged him by the arm, dragging him up the stairs and into the school.

Satoshi Hiwatari sighed and glanced at his watch; twenty-three minutes and fourteen seconds he had been sitting in the office, waiting for his cousin, Krad, to get his classes scheduled. Why did he have to let Krad see the counselor first? Hadn't past experience taught him anything? As a rule, on his first day in a new school, Krad would always always always look carefully through each and every single course that he could possibly take and then take at least half an hour to decide on ones to fill his schedule that he would enjoy. Damn his semi-hedonistic tendencies, anyway.

Satoshi slumped in his chair, blowing his light blue hair out of his eyes for the billionth time and dully inspecting a small smudge on his glasses. Hey, the light goes all rainbowy if I turn my head this way... He glanced up at the ceiling, I wonder how many tiles there are up there... One... Two...

The door to the counselor's office swung open, snapping Satoshi out of his murky haze of boredom. Sitting up quickly, he watched Krad enter the main office and walk over. The blond reached out a hand and lightly smacked Satoshi's shoulder, "Tag, your turn."

Satoshi laughed, "What classes do you have?"

Krad held out a piece of paper, which Satoshi took, "I made you a copy so you could compare when you get your schedule figured out. But right now I have Advanced Biology, so I've got to go." He grinned, "Be good on your first day, Honey"

Satoshi rolled his eyes, but answered as was customary, "Yes, Darling, you too."

A couple of faculty members standing behind the counter, raised their heads in alarm, and Krad laughed at their reactions, "Man, that never gets old. Really though, Satoshi, don't piss off any more teachers, ok?"

Satoshi sniffed, "It's not my fault if they don't know what they're talking about."

Krad chuckled, "Yeah, yeah, Mr. Know-it-all. I do have to go, though. See you when I see you!"

"Yeah, see you." Satoshi stood up and walked into the counselor's office. At the desk sat a skinny, middle aged woman with thick glasses and a pleasant smile planted on her face.

"Hello, there!" The woman-- Mrs. Barbo, according to the nameplate-- chirped, "You must be Satoshi Hiwatari! Your cousin, Mr. Hikari, was just in here." The word 'Duh' echoed through Satoshi's head. "He's taking a lot of good courses. I know he gave you a copy of his schedule, and a lot of students do that, but my one rule is that you are not allowed to look at it until after your classes are chosen." Damn.

Mrs. Barbo handed him a packet with all the classes he could take and told him to choose five. He did so, and she typed them into her computer. Printing out a hardcopy, she snagged it off the printer and handed it over, telling him to check for mistakes. He scanned over the page, French, College Writing, A lunch, Chemistry, Anatomy and Physiology, and Library Assistant. Yup, that was everything. He told her as much and she handed him his school handbook. Just as he opened the door to go to first hour, a loud bell rang, announcing a class change.

"Oh, well, just go on to your second hour, Mr. Hiwatari. You can meet your first hour teacher tomorrow." Satoshi sighed and headed off to find the College Writing room.

311... 312.... 313... 314! Finally! Satoshi grinned, relieved that he had not gotten too lost on his way to class. Opening the wooden door, he quietly entered the room and glanced around to see if he had this class with Krad. Brown hair... brown hair... red hair... black.... brown... blond...Oh! Blond! Satoshi hurried across the room to snag a seat next to his friend and cousin. Krad grinned happily when he caught sight of Satoshi hurrying towards him, and waved, "Hey, Satoshi, what took you so long?"

"Got lost," Satoshi admitted, plopping into the desk next to Krad's. "How was first hour?"

"Fine, I guess. We really didn't do anything since it's the first day and all. You?"

"Nah, I didn't get out of the counselor's until first hour was over. This is my first class today. So you have A lunch, righ--"

Satoshi was interrupted by a loud voice from the door, "Shut up, everyone." Into the room strode a man so large, it looked like he had muscles on his muscles, "This is not a fun class. We will start off with class work today, and continue with this assignment until I choose to say stop. First assignment is: Journals. Every day in class you will spend the hour quietly writing in your journals. Begin." The teacher, without even giving his name, walked over and sat down at his desk. The entire hour went by without so much as a peep from anyone. When the bell rang for A-lunch, the room was cleared in record time.

Krad grimaced at the large lump of "food" on his lunch tray, wrinkling his nose at the less-than-appetizing odor it gave off. Turning to Satoshi, he shoved the tray under his nose, "'Toshi-- What do you think this is?"

Satoshi sniffed the contents of the tray and grimaced, "Spoiled, that's what! Get it away from me!" the blue-haired teen shoved it away, almost knocking the tray out of the blonde's hands. With a sick sucking sound, the glob of cafeteria food flew off the tray and suctioned itself onto the face of a short boy with flaming red hair who was unfortunate enough to be walking past their table at just the right moment. Pulling up short, the garnet-haired boy yelped in surprise, "Wha- What the--?"

"Ohmygod, I am so sorry!" Krad jumped from his chair to assist the shocked boy, "Here, let me help you!!" He grabbed Satoshi's napkin and tried to wipe some of the goop from the newcomer's face. As soon as his eyes were no longer glued shut with mutant Caf food, the boy blinked them open. Satoshi's heart stopped as he found himself staring into the most gorgeous pair of ruby-red eyes he had ever seen.

But before he was able get his brain functioning properly again, a whirlwind of purple and black ran up and glomped onto the redhead, "Hey, Daisuke! What's taking ya so loooong? If we don't hurry, we'll--" Pausing for a second he sniffed the air near the boy's head, "Eeewww, Dai, what have you been rolling in? You smell like With after he's played in the garbage."

With a snort, the smaller boy pushed his purple haired friend away and pointed to Krad and Satoshi, "You could ask those two, but I think it might have been the casserole Mom made for dinner last night. Grandpa said he was going to give it to the school cafeteria."

Noticing the two boys at the table for the first time, the taller teen laughed and grinned broadly at them, "Hi there! I'm Dark, Dark Mousy! Now then, care to tell me why you're slingin' caustic anti-food at Dai-chan, here?" 'Dai-chan' growled and punched his friend in the arm.

Satoshi stared at the two as they seemed to forget where they were and began tussle in the middle of the lunch room. Realizing that Krad seemed to have been struck dumb, he picked up the proverbial 'ball' and interrupted their mock fight, "Um... yeah, about that... Sorry, it was an accident. Krad shoved his tray in my face so I just--"

"Ahh, we understand, no need to explain further! Self-preservation is a strong instinct in this cafeteria!" Dark and Daisuke said in perfect unison, freezing mid-strangle hold.

"So-- what's your names? You don't look familiar; are you new?" Dark asked, releasing a slightly blue-faced Daisuke.

"Oh, sorry," Satoshi winced at his own rudeness, "Yes, we transferred here just this morning. My name is Satoshi Hiwatari."

Daisuke took the initiative this time, " Nice to meet you Satoshi, I'm Daisuke Niwa. And your... brother?"

"Oh no, not brother. He's my cousin."

Daisuke went red at his mistake, "Oh! I'm so sorry, I was only guessing!"

Satoshi waved a hand to dismiss Daisuke's apologies. "It's alright, happens all the time." Frowning, he glanced over at said relative. He blinked. Krad was staring at Dark, and Satoshi could almost swear he saw a thin line of drool slid from the corner of his mouth. Rolling his eyes, he jabbed his friend in the ribs, "Hey, you dumb blond, don't be rude."

With a start, Krad came back to himself and blinked, "Wha?" Dark laughed and repeated the question. "Oh," Krad flushed in embarrassment, "Krad Hikari. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, nice to meet you," Dark glanced over at the clock on the wall and gave a start, "Wah! Dai, lunch is almost over! We gotta go! Later, you two!" Without another word, he grabbed Daisuke by the collar and ran off, dragging him along behind. Smiling despite his awkward position, Daisuke shouted back, "See you two later! Have a nice day!"

Krad and Satoshi could only gape at the retreating dust cloud, stunned. Finally, Krad was able to gather enough of his wits to string three word together, "He was hot."