Chapter 1: Zero Hour

Cheers and screams emanated from within a large, blue charter bus exiting the school grounds of Takami High School. Nearly all the students inside were cheering as they headed off for their last field trip of the year. The school year had just ended two days ago and Class A of Takami High School was on their way to a beach resort a few hours away from town. Finally, their compulsory education was at an end. Also, it was the class' first time going to the big city so of course they were happy. Most of their other field trips were simple expeditions to the local aquarium or science center. Everyone appeared joyous and smiling. All forty-two students of Class A came on the trip, even those who'd normally skip school. Each student sat at a two-person seat on the bus. Normally, they'd take a simple yellow school bus for field trips, but the school board decided to go all out on this one. They rented a charter bus that was quite clean compared to the old, smelly school buses the students were used to. There weren't even any tears on the chairs or graffiti on the walls. However, there did seem to be a few scraps of paper and crumbs of food on the floor. It didn't really matter, though, seeing as how everyone was staring out their windows and not on the black floor.

The only person who didn't seem quite as happy or interested as the rest of his class was Tetsuo Kaneda (Boy #20). His eyes were droopy as his mouth opened wide to yawn. Tetsuo Kaneda was a short, friendly boy who was known as the class clown. He had short, messy, black hair that shaded his brown eyes and a goofy smile that made him look like a real clown. That smile was gone from his face today, though. Tetsuo was usually the one to make people laugh; he could awaken them easily with one of his one-liners. But today he seemed to be the one who needed an awakening. After all, he did just get out of bed less than twenty minutes ago. Tetsuo had a penchant for arriving late for everything; if one were to look at his attendance record, almost every day of school would be checked with a late mark.

Having closed his eyes since he stepped on the bus five minutes ago, Tetsuo opened them to watch the bus leave the school. His eyes blurred at first, but they soon adjusted to the dim lights of the charter bus. Though it was morning, it was too early for the sun to rise. The sky was a purplish-blue and made the surroundings a darker shade. Yawing once again, Tetsuo slumped back in his seat and tried to sleep. Unfortunately, everyone else had other plans. Shifting around constantly, Tetsuo decided to just stay awake and wait till everyone quieted down for him to sleep.

As the digital clock above the driver's head changed to 5:47 AM, Tetsuo looked around at his classmates. The nearest person he could see was his best friend, Hideaki Ikeuchi (Boy #5), who sat right beside him. Like usual, Hideaki was playing a videogame on his cellphone. He seemed really into the game since his eyes were deadlocked on the little screen as his fingers moved about rapidly over the keys. Seeing as how this trip wasn't a formal one, everyone got to wear whatever they wanted. Tetsuo chose to wear a light blue shirt with a collar and a pair of blue jeans while Hideaki wore his usual green jacket over a white t-shirt and blue pants. Thinking, Tetsuo remembered he had known Hideaki for nearly ten years. They met at a park both their parents used to take them to. At first, they weren't very fond of one another, but they soon warmed up to each other. Tetsuo remembered Hideaki saving him from some bullies a few months after they met each other. The bullies wanted Tetsuo's lunch, but he was too hungry to comply. They began beating on him, but Hideaki came out of nowhere and chased them off. For a six-year-old, Hideaki was quite tall and big at the time. As he grew older, he got even taller and bigger. Meanwhile, Tetsuo remained quite small and frail. Though Hideaki had the size and stature of a bully, he was anything but. Out of all the people he met in his lifetime, Tetsuo couldn't remember anyone kinder than Hideaki. Hideaki was the kind of person you could depend on when you needed a shoulder to cry on. He always seemed to be there for everyone and was well-liked. While he was kind and friendly, Hideaki was also shy and gentle. Many of the older kids picked on him for his big size and gentle heart. Hideaki didn't seem to mind, though, since he rarely thought of anything others said about him. The only person whose thoughts really mattered to him was Tetsuo's and Tetsuo's thoughts about him had always been good since he rescued him.

Looking over Hideaki's tilted head, Tetsuo could see Hikari Satomi (Girl #9) and Megumi Matsuda (Girl #13) seated next to one another in the seats parallel to Tetsuo's and Hideaki's. The two beautiful, bright girls had been best friends since childhood. Hikari's father was the owner of some big corporation that did business with Megumi's grandfather, who owned his own business. It was actually quite strange that they still lived in such a small town like Takami. Out of the two, Hikari was the smarter one. She had a plan for everything and a plan for a plan that didn't work. Luckily, none of her plans ever failed so she really had no need for backup plans. Clothing her delicate body was a pink tanktop under a white jacket and tight, blue jeans. Meanwhile, Megumi was the athletic one, the captain of the volleyball team and swim team. Though not at all stupid, Megumi was more interested in training herself for competition than studying for exams. Today she wore a white sweater and a pair of cargo shorts. The sweater appeared too big for her since the sleeves overlapped her hands. Polar opposites, Hikari cared much about her looks while Megumi cared more about her trophies. Not to say she was ugly, but Megumi wasn't as beautiful as Hikari. However, one look at Megumi on a good day and you could tell she could be as pretty, if not prettier, than Hikari.

Sitting in front of the two girls was Yuriko Kiriyama (Girl #21) all by her lonesome. While many of the girls in Class A grouped together in small cliques, Yuriko was one of the few loners. The fact that she wasn't very pretty didn't help her social status at all either. She had long, black hair that she constantly wore in two braids. Sitting on the bridge of her nose was a pair of glasses with wide lenses. Normally, she wore a plain sweater and jeans, but today, she wore a pair of green shorts and a blue t-shirt. On her feet were pink sandals with plastic daisies glued onto them. Yuriko thought they were really cute. Actually, she thought a lot of things were cute, though, they actually weren't. Unlike most of her female classmates, Yuriko had no sense of style or fashion. This led to many of her fellow classmates calling her names and making fun of her periodically. Hoping to stay away from the ridicule of her peers, she had hoped to sit in the very back of the bus. Unfortunately, it was already occupied so the seat she chose had to do. Luckily, no one made fun of her yet today; they all seemed too preoccupied with the thought of getting to go to a fancy beach resort right after graduation, but then again, the day did just start.

In the very back of the bus sat the biker gang known as the Capsules with its leader, Toshiro Miyamoto (Boy#3), sitting right in the middle. Surrounding him were his flunkies, Ryou Kazunari (Boy #10), Jin Sanada (Boy #2), and Ando Akabane (Boy #17). Leaning closely against Toshiro's muscular chest was his girlfriend, Mamimi Utada (Girl #19). The Capsules were a bunch of delinquents who frequently skipped school and went around partying, drinking, and driving their motorcycles all around town. Of the five members, Tetsuo knew Toshiro the closest. The two had been pretty good friends when they were younger, but something changed in Toshiro and he gained a new group of friends. Though he was pretty smart, his inability to show up in class didn't help at all. It was strange really, how someone so smart and friendly could end up a criminal. It was probably because of his new group of friends. Today, Toshiro wore a red jacket over a black t-shirt and black jeans. Running down the sleeves of the red jacket were two thick, black lines that reached the ends of the sleeves. Toshiro usually wore this jacket with its sleeves rolled up to his elbow, but he was probably cold today seeing as how they weren't rolled up. Two of the members of the Capsules, Ryou Kazunari and Jin Sanada, had been best friends since childhood. Ryou wore a dark gray tanktop with a white tanktop underneath. He also wore a pair of baggy, camouflage pants while Jin wore a simple black t-shirt and black jeans. The two delinquents were orphans and grew up in an orphanage together. They seemed like just two kids on the wrong side of the tracks, but they were much more than that. The Dynamic Duo, as most of the teachers called them, were particularly violent individuals. They both loved to fight and had been arrested numerous times for street fighting. Though all members of the Capsules appeared to love the thrill of backyard brawling, Ando Akabane enjoyed it the most. He was a tall, masculine young man with spiky, black hair and dull, brown eyes. Usually he wore nothing but a white tanktop and some shorts, but today he wore a black leather jacket, a white shirt, and black jeans. His favorite pastime was beating the shit out of kids bigger or smaller than him. He didn't really care about whom he was fighting just as long as they could put up a fight; he didn't even have any qualms about fighting girls. The tamest of the group was the only female hanging out with them: Mamimi Utada. Like the rest of the Capsules, she was a delinquent. She often skipped class, even before she met the rest of the Capsules, and smoked cigarettes like they were going out of style. While she was a sweet, beautiful girl, she was quite violent and had anger management problems. How Toshiro and the others could put up with her on a bad day was a mystery to Tetsuo. However, she was really cute, which made things a lot easier. While most of the Capsules were dressed in jeans and a jacket, Mamimi wore a short, denim skirt and a navy blue tanktop. Tetsuo thought it was kinda skimpy as he looked at it, but he didn't really mind. After all he did used to have a crush on the girl, but that was back in the sixth grade, which was three years ago.

Looking a few seats ahead of the Capsules, Tetsuo could make out the medium-built body of the most mysterious boy he'd ever met in his life: Hiro Kurosawa (Boy #21). Like always, Hiro wore a white windbreaker with a hoody and a pair of black pants. Across the chest of the windbreaker was a red stripe, and on the sleeves were similar striped going down. The t-shirt he wore, though, Tetsuo had never seen. It was a crimson red t-shirt with a black gun drawn on it sketchily. A recent transfer student, no one really had a clue as to who Hiro Kurosawa was save for Enishi Tenken (Boy #13), who had recently befriended him. Tetsuo heard rumors that he was sent to juvenile hall for beating up five kids at once and other rumors stating that he set his last school on fire. Many of these rumors fueled suspicions about him, causing most of the student body to steer clear of him. The way he looked didn't calm any of these suspicions either. In the locker room, Tetsuo remembered seeing Hiro undress for gym class. His body was quite muscular, but not bulky; it seemed to be the kind of build one would get from athletics. Tetsuo's locker was right next to Hiro's so he had a front-row view of the mysterious boy's scarred body. Running along Hiro's torso, from the right side of his chest to his waist, was a horrid scar. There were also a few other scars on his forearms, but none were as ghastly as the scar on his chest. However, Hiro did have a few handsome qualities. His short, black hair was rather neatly styled with several strands crossing his face, and his prominent cheekbones sliding smoothly into a strong but slender jaw. And though he had the looks of a dangerous thug, Hiro was actually the opposite. Whenever others would make fun of him, he'd usually just shrug it off; Tetsuo never saw him retaliate once. What amazed Tetsuo the most about Hiro, though, wasn't that he was soft-spoken, but that he was actually quite the fighter, a noble one at that. Hiro never fought for his own selfish reasons, though, but whenever he saw a weaker person or a female being bullied by others, he'd always step up and defend them. Lots of the girls in Class A developed crushes on him for his nobility and his looks, but none dared to ever get too close to him. The only person Tetsuo ever saw interacting with Hiro was Enishi; though, he could never hear what they were saying. The only time Tetsuo actually heard Hiro speak was when Hiro asked him for a pencil. It was only for a second, but Tetsuo could remember Hiro's voice so vividly. Not to sound gay or anything, but it truly sounded almost angelic and mellow.

Beside Hiro, who sat at the window seat, was Enishi Tenken, the son of Takami's Chief of Police. He was a popular boy, not like Hiro. In fact, he and Hiro didn't seem to have anything in common. While Hiro was soft-spoken and shy, Enishi talked a lot and was somewhat popular among the student body. He had good relations with the teachers as well considering how well he did in all his classes. Also, in fear of brutal retaliation, the school's bullies stayed as far away as possible from Enishi. It wasn't because they feared the boy's physical prowess; it was because his father controlled the entire police force in their hometown. By his looks, you could tell he didn't have much strength. Sure he was an unbelievably fast sprinter and could do more pull-ups that anyone in gym class, but other than that, he had no real abilities. In contrast to his best friend, or whatever Hiro was to him, Enishi wore a thin, black jacket with the collar popped. Down the front of the jacket were two white stripes that reached the waist. On the lower half of his body, Enishi wore black jeans and white sneakers while a simple white t-shirt clothed his torso.

Ripping his eyes off Hiro and Enishi, Tetsuo noticed the group of girls sitting in the seats parallel to Hiro's and Enishi's. At the top of the hierarchy of Takami High School were these girls: Reiko Abarai (Girl #15), Saori Takako (Girl #18), Kasumi Fukada (Girl #11), and Hitomi Kawamura (Girl #8). Being some of the most beautiful girls in school, they garnered the attention of nearly the entire student body. While they were quite flirtatious, none of them were slutty. In fact, they were actually quite chaste. Reiko was the leader of the school's debate team and could argue her way out of anything while Saori was a member of the swim team with the body of a goddess. Kasumi was the fighter of the group and had been in Tae Kwon Do classes since she was a child. Meanwhile, Hitomi was the frailest of the group, but she was certainly the smartest; her grades were exceptionally and she never got a grade below an A. Though the girls were probably the most innocent in class, they had an affinity for boys.

Right now, sitting in the middle of the four girls, was Kenji Sorimachi (Boy #12). What a lucky bastard. To the girls of Class A, Kenji was a handsome, friendly, and charming ladies man. But to everyone else, he was nothing more than an amoral pimp. He concealed his true colors well, though – almost chameleon-like – for none of the girls could ever tell what kinds of things he was doing behind their backs. Tetsuo, being one to highly respect his female counterparts, was disgusted at the things he'd seen and heard Kenji do. One of his "hobbies" was dating one girl from a certain clique, like say these four young ladies, and dating another girl from another clique. None of the other guys liked him either, but they couldn't really do anything about it. Kenji's father was the mayor of Takami and, since it was a small town, he could probably do anything he wanted if anyone got in his way or his son's way for that matter.

In the seats before the girls' sat Keigo Arashi (Boy #19) and Ai Kanezawa (Girl #1). The two made a perfect couple; Keigo was the star player of the basketball team and Ai was the captain of the cheerleading squad. It was like they were meant for each other. They were making out at the moment like they usually did during passing time in between classes. Obviously they had no problem displaying their affections publicly. Tetsuo couldn't see them very well, but it looked as if Keigo was slipping his hand up Ai's slim-fit yellow tanktop. Intrigued as he was, Tetsuo felt he should look away to respect their privacy.

Shaking the image out of his head, Tetsuo looked to the seats adjacent to the couple's. Seated there were Ai's two best friends and fellow cheerleaders, Aki Kaname (Girl #2) and Shiori Yasutora (Girl #3). Like most cheerleaders, Aki and Shiori were quite pretty. Aki had long, light brown hair that she wore in a ponytail. Her eyes were a fluorescent blue color – she was wearing those contact lenses that changed your eye color – and made her look even prettier than usual. She was wearing a white tanktop and blue shorts with a bright green hoody. Next to her, Shiori wore her black hair down to her shoulders with thick strands covering most of the left side of her face. A beautiful smile, one that could make even a demon smile, appeared on her face as Aki whispered something in her ear. Shiori chose to wear a pair of tight, denim shorts and a tan tanktop with a flower print on the chest. Though the three cheerleaders of Class A were always energetic, Aki was visibly more energetic than they were. On days of basketball games or football games or whatever, she'd wear the school's colors – blue and gold – and draw all over herself to make her own body look like a mural to the school. Shiori was the shyest of the three, but by no accounts was she shyer than anyone else. Seeing Shiori's beautiful face and nice figure made Tetsuo recount the time he slept with her. It was his first time, but probably her fifth; she was known to have had sex a lot. That didn't matter to Tetsuo, though, since all he cared about at the time was getting laid. While it started out great, it ended horribly. Tetsuo and Shiori had snuck into Shiori's room after a school dance last year and proceeded to have sex right there. Unfortunately, Shiori's twin brother, Kyosuke (Boy #6), entered the room and caught them. Shocked and appalled, Kyosuke ripped Tetsuo off her sister's naked body and beat the hell out of him. What made it more embarrassing was that Tetsuo was completely nude while getting his ass beat. After that, Tetsuo made sure to stay away from Shiori and Kyosuke.

After looking around for a few seconds, Tetsuo made out Kyosuke's face among the group of jocks sitting a few seats away from the three cheerleaders. Kyosuke was the captain and quarterback of the football team and a first-string shooting guard for the basketball team. He was a tough kid who loved chilling with his buddies and getting drunk every weekend. He made sure to keep his grades up, though, and did a damn good job at it. While most jocks at Takami were morons, Kyosuke actually had a high GPA. The person sitting next to him was his best friend, Kiba Kurosaki (Boy #9). Kiba was a member of the basketball team like Kyosuke, but had no fondness for football. Kiba was a wiry individual, who was quick and agile. The things he could do with a basketball amazed everyone. He wasn't very smart, though, but then again, that's why he had Kyosuke. In the seat behind them was Yutaka Akanishi (Boy #18). He sat with the jocks, hung out with the jocks, and went to games with the jocks, but he was anything but a jock. Strange, huh? He was actually the school mascot. In front of Kyosuke and Kiba were the other two jocks of Class A, Komamura Tamayama (Boy #14) and Saitou Takuya (Boy #15). Komamura was a large, heavy-set boy with a full facial. His appearance made it seem like he either failed the 9th grade way too many times or… well that was it really. Meanwhile, Saitou was a fairly lean teenage boy who was the captain of the basketball team. The leading shooter, he had a pretty big head, but what could you say, he was the best player on the team and deserved everything he got.

Though the jocks were talking pretty loudly, Tetsuo could hear others' voices much more prominent than theirs. At the front of the bus sat Keiko Benihime (Girl #17) and Haruka Ito (Girl #10). Keiko was the Student Body President while Haruka was her Vice-President. They were the best of friends and seemed more like sisters than friends. Everything they did, they did together. At the moment, they were sitting behind Mr. Yamamoto, Class A's teacher. Though not necessarily mean, he was a ruthless and strict teacher. Not many students liked him, but he was fair to everyone. The one thing none of the students really liked about him was his view of the government. Like many adults in the world, he agreed with the Republic of Greater East Asia. From the sound of things, Tetsuo could tell he was arguing with Keiko and Haruka about the government. Tetsuo was more interested in checking out the two girls, though. While they weren't very pretty, they had a sort of natural beauty that made them appealing. Keiko was currently wearing a pink sweater with a pair of white pants while Haruka wore a white halter top and blue jeans. They wore their hair in similar fashions – down with several more strands on the left side than the right.

Strangely, sitting a few seats behind the pair and the teacher were, for the lack of better words, the sluts of Class A. Comprising of Mika Yamaguchi (Girl #12), Misa Nakajima (Girl #5), and Asuka Ayanami (Girl #4), the sluts of Class A were just that: sluts. All three were fiends for sex and they didn't care if anyone knew it. They actually liked all the attention they got. However, most of the girls at Takami High School either disliked them or hated them with a passion. No one besides the three of them really liked them at all. They were deceptive, whiny bitches who used everyone for one thing or another. Tetsuo wouldn't mind getting laid by any of them, though, just as long as he came out of it clean. Checking each girl out attentively, Tetsuo could see Mika was wearing a dark brown top that ended just at her cleavage. It was sexy and Tetsuo wanted to see more, but the many seats separating him from Mika wouldn't allow it. Instead, he moved over to Misa, who wore a black tanktop that had spaghetti strings on the shoulders. She was slouching out of her seat so Tetsuo could see she also wore tight, white jeans. In the seat in front of Mika and Misa was Asuka by herself. Unfortunately for Tetsuo, he couldn't see her very well and could only make out her face and hair. Disappointed, Tetsuo looked away from the three.

Tired of watching his classmates, Tetsuo turned his head and looked out the window. The garden suburbs and aged buildings of Takami were transforming into towering structures with bright, neon lights. Street lights were beginning to dim while the signs of stores and fast food restaurants changed to 'OPEN'. Not many cars were driving along the road, but a few people were jogging down the streets in sweat suits with their headphones blaring. They had apparently reached the capital of the Kagawa Prefecture just as the sun began to rise. Regularly, it took about twenty minutes to get to the capital. Had it really been that long since they left Takami High School? Tetsuo's eyes squinted as he stared out his window to watch the rising sun. Listening absentmindedly to the low rumble of the bus engine, Tetsuo watched as life passed him by second by second.

"Hey Tetsuo, you got any food?" a voice interrupted.

Knitting his eyebrows, the goofy-looking boy turned to see Uryuu Karasu (Boy #8) gazing down at him. The agile young man's bleached dirty blonde hair hung oddly as his head tilted downwards. Alone, Uryuu had taken the seat behind Tetsuo and Hideaki, and placed his red backpack at the seat beside him as if he were saving the seat for someone. Uryuu was a sincere person, but he had a tendency to be brash and too laid-back. For someone who learned the discipline of some martial art Tetsuo couldn't pronounce, he was rather undisciplined really. Uryuu was also somewhat of a ladies man, but unlike Kenji, he treated girls right. To Tetsuo, he was a king among men and a hero among his loyal followers. Though he had a lot of power behind him, Uryuu never abused it. He was also trustworthy and charming, therefore, acquiring the attention of his classmates.

"Nope, I forgot to bring any with me," Tetsuo replied.

"Damn it! I need food! I haven't eaten anything yet!" Uryuu whined as he slumped in his seat. He was apparently very hungry for, even through the sound of the bus' engine, Tetsuo could hear his stomach growling. Realizing Ichigo Yagami (Boy #11), who sat parallel to him, was chewing on a dark brown chocolate bar, Uryuu grinned deceptively and leaned towards Ichigo. Tapping him on the left shoulder, Uryuu asked, "Hey Ichigo, buddy, you got any more of those?"

"Nope, sorry, Uryuu," Ichigo replied while his jaws moved up and down, mashing a piece of the chocolate bar with his molars. Ichigo Yagami was an honest guy who everyone could count on and trust. Uryuu didn't want to bother asking him again since he was probably already telling the truth.

Grumbling to himself, Uryuu retreated to his seat and slid down even lower. In an effort to drown out the awful sound of his growling stomach, Uryuu reached into his backpack to pull out a pair of large headphones. The headphones were black and were the kind DJs used during their gigs. They were connected to a circular, blue device with several silver buttons on it. Uryuu adjusted the headphones around his head and ears and pressed a button on the CD player. The sound of tunes from the '80s and '90s passed into both his ears. They were pleasant sounds, much more so than his stomach growls. Unfortunately, the type of music he listened to – rock music – was banned in Japan. So as to not get caught listening to it, Uryuu always put in a few classical songs scattered amongst the rock songs and stuck his CDs in CD cases for songs old people liked to listen to.

Suddenly, someone lifted the headphones off Uryuu's ears and waved a candy bar in his face. Uryuu, whose eyes had closed by that time, opened them and saw the candy bar in front of his nose. A bright expression lit up his face and he grabbed at the candy bar. Someone's gentle, slender fingers ripped them away from him, though, forcing him to turn around. Seated behind him were Sakura Nakashima (Girl #6) and Hikaru Samejima (Girl #20). The slender fingers that had stolen joy from Uryuu belonged to Sakura. Sakura was a beautiful girl who had a smile that could make any man's knees weak. She was also relatively nice and honest to everyone. Her best friend, Hikaru, was also pretty, but she was somewhat of a bitch.

"You want this candy bar, Uryuu?" Sakura asked in her seductive voice, the voice that had sent many men crooning over her. Looking up at her from his slumped position, Uryuu could see she was wearing a lavender-colored t-shirt with white lining on the sleeves and the words 'Hands Off' printed on the chest in white block letters. Hands off, eh? That's not what you told me last week, Uryuu thought to himself.

"Hell yeah I want it!" Uryuu shouted back. He tried to snatch the candy bar away once more, but was unsuccessful.

"You know, for someone trained to catch flies with their hands, you're pretty slow," Sakura teased.

"Well I'm starved right now. I can't do anything when I have no food in my stomach," Uryuu argued. "Now, if you gave me that candy bar maybe I could show you a thing or two that'll really impress ya."

"Oh wow," Hikaru snidely remarked. "You know what that means, Sakura."

Sakura giggled with her friend and tossed the candy bar onto Uryuu's lap.

Tearing the candy bar open, Uryuu looked up at the two girls with wonder in his eyes. Completely oblivious to what they were laughing about, he asked, "What does that mean?"

Though he hoped for an answer, all he got in reply were the girls' laughter. Shrugging his shoulders, Uryuu bit into the candy bar and felt the gooey goodness of caramel and sweet milk chocolate mixing together in his mouth.

"Thank God!" he pleasantly exclaimed, surprising everyone. Most of his classmates turned and looked at him with odd looks on their faces. Uryuu simply stared back and asked, "What?" in a loud manner.

After turning to look at his friend, Tetsuo slumped back down in his chair and looked at the rest of his classmates. Everyone turned around to see why Uryuu was so happy save for Rangiku Fujiwara (Girl #14). Rangiku was the most beautiful girl in Class A, but didn't have many friends. She had a few, but most of them were in other classes. Her only friend in Class A seemed to be herself. It was actually quite a wonder that she even came on the field trip. She sat alone near the back of the bus near Hiro and Enishi. Her eyes were engrossed by the streets and buildings that they passed by. Such a magnificent looking girl, Tetsuo thought, should never feel lonely or outcast. No matter how much he wanted to talk to her, though, Tetsuo knew she'd just give him her ominous blank stare for a few seconds and look away.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tetsuo could see a head popping up out of a seat and hear a slight shriek. Turning his head, he noticed it was Rena Hasegawa (Girl #16). Knowing her, she probably saw a spider crawl across the floor. Tetsuo had known Rena since they were kids and she was afraid of anything that moved. Luckily for her, she had her big, tough boyfriend, Yamato Sakai (Boy #16) to look out for her. They just started going out about three months ago, but Tetsuo heard they had already locked legs. It was strange to think of Rena doing it since she was always teasing Tetsuo about his cooties when they were smaller. As for Yamato, Tetsuo didn't really know him. Yamato wasn't a loner, but he never really hung out with anyone in Class A besides Rena. From what Rena had told him, though, Yamato sounded like a nice guy and a perfect match for Rena.

Snapping his head back, Tetsuo saw Hideaki flipping off the screen of his cellphone. Hideaki had said something, but whatever it was, Tetsuo didn't know.

"Why the hell are you flipping off your cellphone?" Tetsuo asked.

"Huh? Oh, no reason," Hideaki simply replied before turning back to the screen.

Shaking his head and smiling, Tetsuo gazed outside the window before his attention shifted to something else yet again. Someone's cellphone was ringing and it was ringing loudly. After looking around, Tetsuo deciphered that the ringing cellphone belonged to whoever sat in front of him. Craning his neck to look, Tetsuo could see it was either Hiroyuki Fukuyama (Boy #4) or Ban Takahashi (Boy #7) whose phone was ringing.

"Hey, one of your guys' cellphones is ringing," Tetsuo informed them as he tapped each of their shoulders. After telling the two boys, Tetsuo sat back down and laid his head back against the seat. Thoughts of racing along the shore and swimming against the ocean tides pleasantly raced through his mind. Unfortunately, he was disrupted once more. "Jeez, can't a guy get some peace and quiet around here?" he thought quietly to himself.

This time, Masaharu Morimoto (Boy #1) had disrupted his thoughts. Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Tetsuo turned to see what had happened now. Masaharu was a frail teenage boy who was openly gay. Tetsuo couldn't tell from where he was, but something had obviously spooked the guy since he was screaming at the top of his lungs and hopping up and down in his chair.

Sitting behind him was a visibly annoyed girl named Hyori Shibasaki (Girl #7). Her dazzlingly beautiful face certainly showed a look of irritation as she watched Masaharu scream and jump. Hyori wasn't the nicest person in the world, but her stunning looks made up for that, or at least in Tetsuo's mind it did. Hyori had an elegant face and slender body. She had deep, dark hazel-colored eyes and long, black hair. Her hair flowed down her back and over her shoulders like water running through rocks in a waterfall. Her sinfully engaging, hazel eyes that were shaded by strands of hair glowed with boredom, but they glowed nonetheless. If Rangiku Fujiwara was the most attractive girl in Class A, Hyori was certainly the second most attractive with her high cheekbones, full, glossy lips, and slender jaw structure. Damn, only if she'd lighten up a bit, Tetsuo began to think. He almost couldn't take his eyes off her, but he guessed she noticed him staring since she turned her head and eyed him warily.

Embarrassed, Tetsuo spun his head around as quickly as possible and drooped in his seat so Hyori didn't have to see him. Tired of staring at his classmates, Tetsuo leaned against the window and stared out at a city. The tall, looming buildings that seemed to stare down at the city's residents were fading away from view as the charter bus neared a whirlwind of bridges all connected together one way or another. The winding highway was nearly empty other than five or six vehicles driving along with and against the bus.

Looking out his window, Tetsuo saw a sedan driving alongside the bus. The mahogany-tinted sedan was driven by a father who had a child – a little boy – sitting in the back seat. The child looked up at Tetsuo while he played with two action figures resembling wrestlers Tetsuo had once seen on TV. He seemed so blissful as he sat in one spot smashing the two toys against one another. It made Tetsuo reminisce about the times he used to play with his action figures. Smiling, Tetsuo waved at the little boy, who waved back with his action figures. As he waved at the boy, Tetsuo's face contorted into a weird expression. He looked as if he just noticed something and he in fact did. Everything on the bus became quiet, like everyone was slumbering. Finally, Tetsuo though, he could finally get some shut eye.

Adjusting his body's position to his comfort, Tetsuo saw his buddy slouching into the aisle. Tetsuo looked over at Hideaki and noticed he had dropped his cellphone to the floor. Past him, Hikari and Megumi were leaning on one another's shoulders as their bodies heaved up and down, sleeping. Though he was happy that everyone got quiet, Tetsuo became suspicious of why theyall got quiet and at the same time too. Standing up to look at his classmates, Tetsuo's suspicions were confirmed when he saw everyone really did fall asleep. In the seat behind him, Uryuu was snoring louder than ever. He was lying on the seat, his head nearly falling off the edge and his headphones still snug atop his head. Swallowing his own saliva, Tetsuo felt something strange course through his veins. His body felt like it was getting heavier and his eyelids began to flutter closed. Try as hard as he did, his eyes still wouldn't remain open. The last thing Tetsuo saw before falling asleep was the blurry image of his friend's heavy body slipping into the aisle. And then he himself collapsed in a heap.

At the head of the charter bus, the bus driver wore a black mask. The mouth of the mask jutted out slightly and had a short, hose-like tube sticking out of it. Through the transparent, black eyes of the mask, the driver could see the 9th grade Class A of Takami High School had fallen fast asleep. With a wry sigh, the driver made a turn down a long bridge that seemed to go deeper and deeper into the darkness.

42 Students Remaining