AN: Gaze upon the fifth chapter! Oh ... and notice I changed the chapter titles ... yes. I am genious. . (Since numbers didn't really have anything to do with the story itself ...) And I present to you: Hiro! and Taki! Enjoy his steady torture ...

Maiko Shindou- (13) Maggie Shoeman

Shuichi Shindou - (16) Shane Shoeman

Ryuichi Sakuma - (17) Ryan Satterfield

Hiroshi Nakano- (17) Hilary (Hi) Nathan

Tatsuha Uesugi- (? looks 16) Thaddeus (Tad) Understold

Eiri Uesugi - (? looks 22) Eric Hueman

Tohma Seguchi - (?) Tohma Seguchi

Mika Seguchi- () Mira Sears

Suguru Fujisaki - (15) Sullivan Fulk

Taki Aizawa - (18) Taylor Ainsworth

Ma-kun - () Mark Kurt

Ken-chan - () Ken Chandler

Noriko Ukai - (18) Nova Upton

Claude K Winchester - (? looks 25) Claude K Winchester

Sakano - (28) Mr. Sakner

Yuki Kitazawa - () Yale Kitterman

Ayaka Usami - (?) Ayla Usher

Safeguard

In comparison to the previous days of that week, Thursday morning had almost been exciting. Since that week's Monday Taylor Ainsworth had found nothing worthy of his attention and quickly discovered the practice of being a misanthrope was more amusing than anybody in the extemely dull school known as Toadstone High. Being something he had been well known for in England; the practice itself involved as acting as dissagreable as possible and making sure he sat near no one at any time. The latter goal was achieved without difficulty as he had already secluded himself as efficaciously as possible in the past four days.

Unfortunately, the sacrifice was even more extreme boredom for the whole six hours of school that he had to endure. For someone like Taylor, this was a horrible notion since it often led him to partake in the oddest activities to help relieve the pain of monotony. A favorite example of entertainment that Taylor often indulged in was eavesdropping. It was always semi-engaging to listen to the insignifigant babble and squibbles of other peoples lifes; sometimes even picking up on some sort of important-of-that-moment drama that could only be seriously played out through high school immaturity.

But what had fully captured Taylor's attention at the moment was a voice that was feminine yet distinctly male as is busily spoke with two others, entwined with an accent as thick as his own. This was a bit confusing since he could safely assume that there were not many Britsh pupils besides himself and because of that he would most likely recognize the owner of the uninvestigated voice. Taylor vaugely recalled another exchange student being mentioned during his time at his school and chastised himself for not having bothered to discover the second person's identity.

Normally he would have simply approached the student in question. However, Taylor felt that point of action would be too blunt in this situation and chose to merely walk around the tables so that he could receive a clear view of the face and hopefully come to his own conclusions about the mystery person.

43334

After returning with some newfound motivation Shane had been much more willing to discuss the prospect of beginning a band with Sullivan's help. The younger boy was just as eager, if not a bit more, to make mere discussions into a reality and was spurred on by the fact he had already found a third individual willing to play guitar. One with promising talent no less; he happened to be the third exchange student mentioned that Monday from California and expiramented with music as a hobby. Hilary Nathan had approached Sullivan after overhearing a conversation between and Shane and had expressed a devote interest in participating in the band. Introducing him to Shane was ultimately pleasing to the keyboardist since they were already talking about arrangements and anything else that came to mind. In fact, Sullivan found that he was often steering the conversation back to the original topic but was not displeased that they were all agreeable with each other.

A short lull had taken place in the middle of their chatter, only to be quickly interrupted by a question from Shane, "So ..." He said to the new guitarist, "What are we supposed to call you?" When he received a puzzled glance from the other teen, he repeated the question. "Well, your first name is Hilary but your second is Nathan. So ... which do you prefer?"

Hilary grinned while he gathered his long bay red locks to toss over his shoulder, "Well, I'll give you the answer I give everyone." He replied, with the air that he had practiced this response before. "If I like you, you may call me Hi." Shane nodded to signal he understood. "If I don't care, you can call me Nathan," Hilary continued, "And if I don't like you ... well, you're going to call me Hilary anyway so it doesn't really matter what I would have to say about the subject, huh?"

The pink-haired simpleton considered his options for a brief moment. "Could I call you Natalie?"

Sullivan stared at him incredulously, "Where did you get Natalie from that?" Hilary's expression was along the same lines of the young keyboardist's.

Shane held out one hand, "Well you take Nathan," Then he offered the other, "And Hilary, squish them together," He accented this by clapping the mentioned hands together. "And then you get Natalie!" Sullivan suddenly understood Shane's logic, much to his dismay.

Complete silence prevailed, broken by a deep breath from 'Natalie', "So when are we going to practice for real?" Hilary asked of Sullivan. The black-haired boy shrugged, pausing as he mulled over the prospects.

"Well, we could go to Shane's house." He suggested thoughtfully.

Hilary nodded his agreement, ignoring Shane's sounds of protest. "Yeah sounds good. My parents wouldn't let us use our garage. All music except classical is the devil you know." He snickered.

"And I don't know how to disarm the security system to mine." Sullivan remarked.

Shane's face flushed red in annoyance from his new friend's presumptuous decisions, "Don't I get a say in this!" He demanded. He really did not mind, but he needed to be included! After all, he was the unspoken leader.

The red-haired guitarist smirked, and reported with finality, "No. No say in things for you." He said teasingly.

"Why not?" Was the whining query.

Hilary dared to reach over the round table and flick the immature boy on the nose, "Because you wanted to call me Natalie." He accused.

The singer clutched at his abused appendage, "That hurt! And that's no reason!"

"Do you have any music that you didn't play with Ryan and Nova?" Sullivan interjected bluntly. The conversation was becoming much too off topic and he wanted to get plans together as soon as was humanely possible. If Shane and Hilary weren't serious, then the youngest of the trio had no qualms of taking matters into his own hands, or at least make his attempts at steering them in the general direction of seriousness.

Shane finally calmed enough to consider options once again. "Well ..." He said slowly, "I have some, but they're things that I either didn't finish or would need edited." Sullivan watched as the sixteen-year-old chewed his lip thoughtfully, "I guess I could find some of my old music sheets ..." The pink headed boy seemed reluctant to share such seemingly unworthy atrocities.

"I'm sure some of it is salvable." Hilary encouraged heartily. "Sounds like Sullivan here can write music, I'm sure he can fix it if it needs it."

"Only if you stink at writing that badly." The writer of alternate music added with a derisive grin at Shane's expense. The insulted began to readily retort, when a shadow was cast along the talkative group. The three fell silent; the being obviously wanting attention from at least one of them.

"Sullivan." The owner of the shadow said smugly, "Sullivan Fulk. To meet you here of all places."

The named visibly blanched at the new stranger's presence. Hilary and Shane gave worried glances, neither sure how to react since they were not familiar with Sullivan's comings and goings. The boy remained silent as he shakily gathered his wits before he impassively replied, "Taylor, I never would have thought." He said with a masque of a smile. He was the deity of Calm and Collected; nothing could have possibly disturbed the boy in any way.

The cool response seemed to amuse Taylor more than anything. He smiled and shifted his weight to one leg and gave the impression that he had no intention of leaving without force, or until he had decided that the conversation had grown tiresome. "I didn't know you could play music." The tall, black-haired boy stated musingly, "Didn't think there was much to know about you."

"There's plenty to know." Sullivan said, his voice tight as if strained, "It's not like you took the time learn about who you were ..." He paused, obviously revising his words, "Who you were around almost every day."

Taylor smirked; he saw Sullivan's evasion of certain phrases that were now clearly off limits. "Well, if you're as talented at most of the things I saw you work at, as you are with music, then I doubt the poor suckers stuck in this band with you are going to get very far with you as baggage."

Now, Shane hadn't liked this person from the moment that he had made himself known. Taylor gave off 'vibes' that repelled the sideline-watcher as effectively as 'Raid' on ants. Shane remained quiet with the hopes that Sullivan would say something to make the pest remove himself, but that evidently was not happening. The pink-haired singer could only take so much of listening to the witty banter when he could blatantly see Sullivan had become upset because of this new person. He was more than ready to say something, but Hilary beat him to it.

"Hey." Hilary calmly drawled with a raised voice to get Taylor's attention, "If you're gonna throw insults around, at least say it to someone half your size." His voice was almost teasing but his expression remained threatening and dangerous.

"And if you're going to critique someone's talent," Shane added, "At least make sure you have enough to be able to base your opinion on." Taylor began to fume. Shane decided to continue pushing his buttons. "Since you probably don't know how to create music, you shouldn't say anything to those that have. Maybe next time you insult someone, have a small idea at what you're talking about."

"And you should know who you're talking about before making assumptions." Taylor snarled. The glare he directed at Sullivan made the tiny boy shrink further into his chair. "Your friend has a big mouth." He turned back to Shane with an icy stare. "I'm gonna call your bluff." Taylor stated in a matter-of-fact tone, "There's a competition in two months at the Key Theo Theatre down-town. You think I don't know what I'm talking about?" A mocking sneer crawled its way across his face, "I'll see you on stage it you think you can compare." A humorless snort and a turned heel had Taylor leaving the surprised faces that were now his antagonists.

Shane came out of his shock only when he over-heard Sullivan muttering something about the other side of the globe and hanging himself. "So who was that droopy eyed sourpuss?" Shane asked in a falsely cheerful tone.

"Taylor Ainsworth." Sullivan muttered as though the name had bad taste. "We went to the same private school for about a year." The boy had mentioned earlier that he had been removed from the assumed school after eighth grade and placed into the public system.

Hilary raised an inquiring eyebrow, "How do you know each other? You two don't seem like you'd be friends."

The questioned paled once again, placing on his telltale smile that Shane was quickly learning to be a form of shield. "We weren't." Sullivan answered. "I was one of his targets to reign over."

"But he spoke as though he knew you." The pink-haired vocalist easily interpreted that his new keyboard player did not like the line of questioning or the subject, but curiosity was getting the best of him.

"Trust me when I say we barely knew each other." The smile was becoming strained, and Sullivan's body language said that he definitely wanted to either run away or change the topic. Hilary seemed to have picked up on the signs because he moved past the discomforting examination.

"I'll look into this contest thing." He offered, "If it's for real, do you want to enter?" Despite the tenseness radiating after Taylor's appearance, the prospect of a challenge seemed to help bring a lighter heart to the prevailing artists.

Shane broke into a giant grin, "Yeah! Not only will we show sourpuss who's boss, we'll get to play for a bigger crowd than normal!"

"The only crowd so far." Sullivan reminded the enthusiastic singer.

"But that's gonna change isn't it?" The sixteen-year-old declared in horrible English, "'Cause we don't got nothin' but good luck!"

Hilary and Sullivan both wondered if the vain announcement was a fact or just steam.

43334

Thaddeus was not happy. Livid in fact; he could not understand how such a fault could slip through the tight security that surrounded the whole situation. If he (of all angels) could sense a foreboding presence, then the Archangels surely knew of it long before he did. This oversight called for the attention of someone with greater manpower than Tohma, but Thaddeus did not possess the knowledge of how to actually -reach- that someone without being accused of going over Tohma's head.

'Which is exactly what I want to do ... but we're too close nit for me to get away with it ...' Conspiracies made their attempts to form in the angel's mind, each time they were canceled out because they all ended with the scenario of Thaddeus' body missing it's skull. He was not worried enough to put himself in -that- sort of danger. Incessant complaints would have to do for the moment.

"TOHMA!" The black-haired angel blustered his way past the mentioned's doorway. "I will not be turned away this time!" He had been ignored before, and what better way to capture he- who's-attention-could-not-be-captured than with more obnoxious exclamations than usual? Thaddeus figured it would all be worth the precarious glares if he got his point to mind.

"Can I help you?" Tohma looked up and regarded the young man with an irritated eye, unappreciative of being bothered from his apparent revery.

Thaddeus huffed and planted defiant hands upon his waist, "Not me. Them! You can't tell me you haven't noticed." He exclaimed, "Tohma, this is a problem, you can't just leave "

"Tell me what you're carrying on about and maybe I can do something." Tohma interrupted as he rubbed a temple with one hand. He was in no mood to deal with one of the boy's pointless rants. Thaddueus had come to him bearing overplayed melodrama before, and though it was usually with the best of interests he had the superhuman talent of being extremely annoying. "Who is 'them' and what is the problem?"

The young angel found himself puzzled at Tohma's clueless-ness and wondered what could have possibly gone wrong that such an important piece of information could have slipped the shred man's grasp. He opened his mouth to explain, when he noticed a body next to his that had not been there a moment before.

"Tohma, we have a problem." Said a tall man with blond hair.

Thaddeus gave the glorified spirit a triumphant scoff, only to be ignored. "What is it K?" Tohma asked in irritated speech.

K dismissed the frustrated tone in his senior's voice and began to report in a professional demeanor that he had learned long ago. "There have been details from other guardian angels of a malevolent presence lurking around a school." He began smoothly, "These angels were "

"Yes, yes give me a list later." Tohma interjected swiftly, further demonstrating his unpleasant mood. "Continue."

K nodded, "Well, there were a good thirty-some reports. Anyway, they were all around 12:40," The blond paused uncertainly, "In Toadstone High School obviously ... since that -is- where I have been hovering lately ..."

Tohma's eyes narrowed as he raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "Did anyone specify who it was staying around?"

The taller blond shook his head, "No. This -could- be a random demon in need of exorcizing but ..." The doubt that crossed K's face spoke words for Tohma. He acknowledged this with the tightening of his lips and a sharp glance at Thaddeus who still stood, ears perked as he listened intently.

"Thaddeus, you are excused now." Tohma stated.

But Thaddeus was not one to be dismissed so easily. His eyes flashed in rebellion, the hair on the back of his neck literally rising as an angry cat's would, "I have every right to be here!" He professed. "I should be allowed to hear what you plan to do with Eiri, he's "

"Tatsuha!" Tohma's voice lowered dangerously; a wince rewarded for his ability to strike fear with only a single threatening glance. "There is a reason you're in purgatory," Another flinched from the newly named. "It was your choice after all." The blond smirked ruefully, "What was it you had said? You 'didn't want to be away from aniki': how sweet." He sneered, "It was your one desire after death, even after Ry "

"Stop it." Tatsuha hissed through clenched teeth, "I get it. I'll leave." He flashed a wrathful glare in Tohma's direction before he stepped back respectfully and brushed past a stoic K who did not yield a centimeter despite the boy's resentful state. K waited until the irate creature had disappeared before offering his own disapproving glance.

"Was that necessary?" He asked gruffly. The blond knew Tohma to resort to inconsiderate measures regarding anything if it worked to his benefit.

Tohma sighed heavily and passed a hand through his platinum yellow hair, "It's for his own good ..." He muttered, and received a doubtful glance from K. "When Tatsuha insisted on being in purgatory rather than allowing his soul to be reincarnated along with his memories, he agreed to stay away from his brother ... you know this K." The angel persisted almost desperately.

"Then why have you allowed him to speak with Eiri for so long?" K crossed his arms and frowned deliberately to emphasize his point. "He's been taking care to not say anything that might bring back memories, but if them being separated was so important I'm sure you would have done something about it decades ago." The glower K received would have made most men want to shrivel and find a hole to take shelter in.

"I would have a long time ago." Tohma said tensely, "But the Guardian arrangements conveniently placed Eiri and Tatsuha in the same time stage, the same country and the same town, there really isn't much I can do."

K smirked; Tohma hated being unable to maintain command. He had known the man long enough to understand that despite his overly calm appearances, Tohma was most likely becoming furious at not being able to dictate the turn of events. With Tatsuha poking around in business that was no longer his own, this could lead to Tohma attempting to fight too many demons at once and by himself. Furthermore, K knew Tohma to often let his personal preference and opinions lead his decisions too often; this was probably more of an explanation as to why he was allowing Tatsuha associate with Eiri since he reasons were most likely completely his own.

Then there was the matter of Tatsuha and Eiri being placed so near to each other; as Tohma had said, it was much too convenient. Along with the reports of a 'presence' suddenly showing up, all K could think to explain the ironic occurrences was that someone was pulling strings for whatever their benefit.

How the reincarnation process could have possibly been tampered with was beyond K but another repeat of history was the last thing he wanted the Archangels to hear of. Tohma's own tampering had proven catastrophic in the past, and the people being affected now were too specific to be coincidence. If whoever was pulling the strings had been aiming to be subtle: placing Shane Shoeman into the mix had been a serious mistake. Tohma had probably already been suspicious after Tatsuha was assigned so close to Shane, but the sudden shortage of guardian angels forcing Tohma to assign Eiri (specifically) to Shane was much too convenient.

Why these events were happening was still too vague, and all K was really worried about was Tohma's future reactions. After all, it was his unspoken duty to make sure he didn't do anything stupid.

Tohma wearily rubbed his temples and lowered his gaze to his desk, "Find out where this demon, spirit-whatever is lurking and get rid of it." He ordered distractedly, "You have the resources to exorcize it, use them." With an absent wave of the hand, K was rudely dismissed. The taller blond internally chuckled: this all was definitely placing his superior into a foul mood.

43334

"Shane!"

The named boy turned, confused, to see an enthusiastic Hilary pushing his way through the passing period crowd. Shane shifted his back pack and waited against the shoving rabble for the suddenly energetic red head to reach him. "What is it?" He asked as soon as Hilary came within hearing distance.

A slightly flushed face looked up at the pink-haired boy, "I already looked into that contest Taylor mentioned." The guitarist gasped and held up a lump of folded papers to display, "It's in two months, and you have to register to get into the qualification round."

Shane felt a sudden wave of excitement and didn't bother hiding the grin spreading across his face, "When do we have to sign up by?" He asked eagerly.

Hesitation from the other earned Hilary another puzzled stare. "In three weeks ..." He mumbled somewhat reluctantly.

Blank eyes blinked dumbly at the bearer of slightly misfortunate news and made their attempts to fully process the new information. Once it did reach the willfully numbed brain, Shane smiled ever more widely and held up two victorious fingers. "That's more than enough time to fix some of my old songs!" He declared. "We just need to work whenever we meet."

Unbeknownst to the optimistic child, Hilary had secretly met with his old band members and asked details of Shane's personality. He had been thoroughly and heartily informed of his new friend's tendency for procrastination; this was something that definitely was not needed since -fixing- old songs had habit of being more difficult than making a new one. Hilary merely smiled past his doubt and moved on, "I told Sullivan." He said, "He mentioned that worked in our benefit anyway since Taylor has to find a band by then and come up with a song. There has to be at least three members ..." Hilary stopped at the faraway expression overcoming Shane's eyes. "You okay?"

The manic boy immediately shook himself out of his daze, "Yeah." He said, masking himself with another smile, "We'll win this if it kills us." Shane shifted his back pack once again and pushed himself in the direction of his classroom, much to the puzzlement of the red-head.

'Anticipating something sinister,' Hilary thought as Shane disappeared into the crowd. 'Something is going to happen, it's emanating from him ...'