Chapter Three: Reunion

Kira walked downstairs to the cafeteria for breakfast and stood in line with the other students. The breakfast smelled amazing. Fresh scrambled eggs and bacon lined one pan, while another was loaded with light brown pancakes. Small cups of syrup sat on a shelf above the pancakes, the steam from the bread keeping the syrup warm.

Smiling at the cafeteria lady, Kira got her breakfast and walked into the main dining area, looking around for a free space for her to sit. She hated this part of the day, when she didn't have anybody she knew to sit with, and having to sit all by herself. And nine times out of ten, she was left alone, and no one sat near her. She looked down at her outfit.

She wore a much more conservative burgundy shirt that did not dip so low in the collar and dark blue jeans, though she wore the same black boots as the day before. Her charm was still around her neck, and she barely had any make-up on. Kira shrugged. I'll make friends well enough, I'm sure. She thought to herself and found a seat near the doors that lead to the outside courtyard. She looked up as a familiar pink pair of pants came into her field of vision.

"Sitting all alone new girl?" A high pitched voice said next to her. Kira looked up and saw Sissi standing next to her, a nerdy looking boy with black hair and a face full of pimples on her right and a dimwitted looking red head on her left. Kira made a face.

"Still wearing the same outfit I see? Is your washing machine broken?" Kira sneered, pointedly looking the annoying girl up and down. Sissi indeed was wearing the same sickening pink pants and pink shirt with a yellow flower in the center of the shirt. "By the by, what's with the mini skirt and pants getup? You afraid of getting pantsed or what?" Sissi turned red and Kira just plowed on with her insults. "Oh wait, you're ass is too ugly to be pantsed."

Sissi sniffed with a squeak and walked away, her two washout puppies following at her heels. Kira shook her head and went back to her meal. A girl laughed as she passed Kira and Kira's stomach clutched with remembrance and she looked up and around wildly. Maia?

Okay, that was definitely her. Now, where the hell is she? Kira stood, her food forgotten. She didn't see any familiar signs of her sister and she tossed her food away, suddenly nor hungry anymore.

Kira walked outside, intent on clearing her mind for a bit before she searched for her first class. She sat on a bench under the shade of a large tree and watched students walking by, her mind half on her surroundings and the other half somewhere else.

A shout of surprise knocked her back fully into the real world and she looked around, trying to find its source. "KIRA!" Kira looked up sharply in front of her and watched a thin girl hurtling towards her. "Maia?" she whispered in disbelief, and then she broke into a grin as she realized that it really was her sister rocketing to her. "MAIA!" Wait a sec, she ain't slowing down... Aww SHIT! Kira braced herself, her arms wide open and her eyes stinging.

As Maia collided with her, Kira wrapped her arms around her sister tightly, holdingtight. Tears of happiness flowed down her face as she stroked her sister's hair, knowing Maia was also crying, just by the feel of her body. She heard Maia whispering something and she lowered her head, and Maia's whispers became clear.

"You're here, you're really here." Kira smiled and whispered reassurance that it really was her and would she please stop getting her shirt all wet, causing Maia to laugh and raise her head, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Hey, Maia, you okay?" A girl called as she and another girl and three boys caught up to her. Maia nodded, a wide grin transforming her face.

"Yeah, guys, meet my sister. She's more cracked than I am," Maia said, gesturing to Kira.

A boy with blonde hair and a purple spot in the middle of it laughed outright, while the rest of the group grinned. "That could be the understatement of the year. You both have some caching up to do if your going to bet me."

Kira smiled. "I'm Kira. Only a year older than Maia." She gently pulled her sister's silver scrunchie out of her hair and teased as she squawked in protest. "Introduce me Bee, and maybe I'll give this back to you."

Maia gave her an odd look and kicked her legs out from under her. Kira landed on her butt with a grunt and she looked at her sister in surprise as she snatched the scrunchie out of her hand.

"Fine. Kira, this is Yumi, Alieta, Ulrich, Jeremy and Odd." Maia said archly, pointing to a black haired girl, who nodded her head to Kira as she stood. The other girl in the group, Alieta, waved to her with a warm smile. She had pink hair and a pink outfit, though completely different and with much better taste than Sissi. Ulrich had brown hair and wore a green shirt and pants, and gave her a half smile, which Kira replied with one of her own. Jeremy had blonde hair with big black rimmed glasses and a laptop case slung over the back of his baby blue turtleneck sweater. He grinned and waved. Odd, the one with the purple spot grinned and formed a peace sign in greeting.

"Odd, is that your actual nature or you name?" Kira asked, brushing off her bum.

Ulrich chuckled. "We all think it's a bit of both." Everyone laughed, including Kira, feeling at ease with this group. They heard a dissatisfied sniff from behind them and Kira saw Ulrich wince.

"So the new girl has decided to join up with the freaks and morons?" Sissi whined as the group turned to face her.

Kira saw Maia's face transform into an expression that she knew all too well before she said, "Actually Elizabeth, Kira is my older sister. And if you think I'm bad when you piss me off, you don't want to cross her." Maia jerked a thumb over her shoulder to point at her sister, who flicked her nails in a familiar gesture of hostility and anger.

"We both have claws Elizabeth dear," Kira added, her face wide in a feral grin, all her teeth bared. "You really don't want to piss me off. You'll only get hurt."

Sissi sniffed again and turned to face Ulrich, trying to deliver one last parting shot, "Ulrich my love, you still have the chance to leave this rabble and be with me. My offer still stands."

Yumi strode up to face Sissi, the girls practically nose to nose, though Yumi was taller than Sissi. "Ulrich's my boyfriend Elizabeth, so shove off." Yumi growled, poking Sissi in the chest forcefully.

Sissi turned and ran away, with her two little cronies following after her. Kira shook her head at the retreating trio. She focused on Jeremy and said, "So, what do you do with your laptop? I've got mine in my room."

Jeremy shrugged. "Programming and stuff. Trying to work on a-" Alieta poked him in his side, just as a beep emitted from the case. The group exchanged glances with each other. Alright, so what am I missing here? Kira thought as Maia turned to face her.

"Sorry, Kira, I've gotta go. Let's go guys." She turned and ran with the others and Kira was standing, left alone by the tree. Kira looked at the tree and laid a hand on it, her eyes closed.

"At least you won't run away Earth Sister." Kira whispered and sat down on the bench to wait for the bell to ring to send her off to class. It came a few minutes later and she stood with a sigh, giving the tree a farewell pat and trudged into the building.

During her second class, things started to get strange. Sirens wailed as they passed the building she was in and stopped at the cafeteria, which spewed smoke. Hold up, Kira thought in bewilderment as she and her classmates crowded at the windows to see what the commotion was about. Smoke ain't supposed to be RED. The teacher tried to call order to her class but no one would listen to her.

All of a sudden, the windows burst inward and cafeteria tables and chairs tried to climb out of the broken windows. "Jebus," Kira whispered. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Class! Order!" The teacher dropped a heavy textbook onto her desk and the class turned with a jump to face hr. "I just received a message from the Headmaster and he says that we all must stay in class and close the blinds." With that the students groaned and moved to close the blinds.

After the class had settled, barely, the teacher resumed her lesson. Kira was distracted and did not pay attention to the lesson. Instead she gazed at the closed blinds, her mind mulling over what she had seen.

Suddenly, Kira sensed something was wrong. Not with her, but with her surroundings. She looked around, and saw that everyone seemed to be frozen in place. "What the-" Kira started to say, and then everything was engulfed in a white light.